Although diamond is the hardest material for cutting tools, poor thermal stability has limited its applications, especially at high temperatures. Simultaneous improvement of the hardness and thermal stability of diamond has long been desirable. According to the Hall-Petch effect, the hardness of diamond can be enhanced by nanostructuring (by means of nanograined and nanotwinned microstructures), as shown in previous studies. However, for well-sintered nanograined diamonds, the grain sizes are technically limited to 10-30 nm (ref. 3), with degraded thermal stability compared with that of natural diamond. Recent success in synthesizing nanotwinned cubic boron nitride (nt-cBN) with a twin thickness down to ∼3.8 nm makes it feasible to simultaneously achieve smaller nanosize, ultrahardness and superior thermal stability. At present, nanotwinned diamond (nt-diamond) has not been fabricated successfully through direct conversions of various carbon precursors (such as graphite, amorphous carbon, glassy carbon and C60). Here we report the direct synthesis of nt-diamond with an average twin thickness of ∼5 nm, using a precursor of onion carbon nanoparticles at high pressure and high temperature, and the observation of a new monoclinic crystalline form of diamond coexisting with nt-diamond. The pure synthetic bulk nt-diamond material shows unprecedented hardness and thermal stability, with Vickers hardness up to ∼200 GPa and an in-air oxidization temperature more than 200 °C higher than that of natural diamond. The creation of nanotwinned microstructures offers a general pathway for manufacturing new advanced carbon-based materials with exceptional thermal stability and mechanical properties.

Understanding the direct transformation from graphite to diamond has been a long-standing challenge with great scientific and practical importance. Previously proposed transformation mechanisms1–3, based on traditional experimental observations that lacked atomistic resolution, cannot account for the complex nanostructures occurring at graphite−diamond interfaces during the transformation4,5. Here we report the identification of coherent graphite−diamond interfaces, which consist of four basic structural motifs, in partially transformed graphite samples recovered from static compression, using high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy. These observations provide insight into possible pathways of the transformation. Theoretical calculations confirm that transformation through these coherent interfaces is energetically favoured compared with those through other paths previously proposed1–3. The graphite-to-diamond transformation is governed by the formation of nanoscale coherent interfaces (diamond nucleation), which, under static compression, advance to consume the remaining graphite (diamond growth). These results may also shed light on transformation mechanisms of other carbon materials and boron nitride under different synthetic conditions.

Elemental carbon exists in various aesthetically pleasing architectures. These forms include a group of synthesized allotropes with cubic modifications that have taken controversial or even unidentified crystal structures, which makes determining their physical properties difficult. In this study, four novel cubic carbon polymorphs (fcc-C 10 , fcc-C 12 , bcc-C 20 , and fcc-C 32 ) that exhibit lattice parameters within the same range as those of undetermined cubic carbon allotropes are proposed by employing a newly developed ab initio particleswarm optimization methodology for crystal structure prediction. The four structures are all three-dimensional polymers consisting of unique, small C 10 , C 12 , C 20 , and C 32 cages with quite low density. Investigation of their electronic and mechanical properties illustrate that the cage-like cubic carbons are all semiconductors with excellent mechanical performance, specifically superhardness and high ductility. Moreover, we readily explain a long-standing controversial experimentally synthesized cubic carbon (viz., the so-called "superdense" carbon) using the previously proposed bcc C 6 based on the coincident lattice constant and electron diffraction data between the theoretical and experimental results.

Both the vibrational and structural properties of coronene have been investigated upon compression up to 30.5 GPa at room temperature by a combination of Raman scattering and synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements. The spectroscopic and crystallographic results demonstrate that two pressure-induced structural phase transitions take place at 1.5 GPa and 12.2 GPa where the high-pressure phases are identified as monoclinic and orthorhombic crystal structures with space groups of P2/m and Pmmm, respectively. A kink in the slope of the cell parameters as a function of pressure is associated with the disappearance of several internal Raman modes, which suggests the existence of structural distortions or reorganizations at approximately 6.0 GPa. Above 17.1 GPa, almost no evidence of crystallinity can be observed, indicating a possible transformation of coronene into an amorphous phase.

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Covalent-bonded graphyne polymers with high hardness

The layered oxychalcogenides BiCuChO (Ch = S, Se, Te) represent a unique family of two-dimensional semiconductors with extraordinary optoelectronic and thermoelectric properties. Chemical strategies such as elemental doping have been used to modify their crystal structures and electronic configurations for better photocatalytic performances. Herein, we report the pressure impact on the crystalline and electronic band structures of BiCuChO (Ch = S, Se) with in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, electric resistivity and photocurrent measurements, and first-principle calculations. Under pressure, the crystalline lattices shrink continuously without symmetry breaking, which enhances the crystal field splitting; on the other hand, the pressure-induced charge delocalization causes the band broadening. The competition between the crystal field and charge delocalization demonstrates an efficient tool for band gap engineering: the electrical conductivity is enhanced below 12 GPa and monotonically decreases up to 40 GPa. In addition, BiCuSeO exhibits considerable photocurrent up to ∼40 GPa, which suggests its potential application in pressure-responsive optoelectrical devices. The comprehensive studies of the pressure effect on the crystal structure and electronic properties in two-dimensional semiconductors provide and in-depth understanding for developing new optoelectronic materials under extreme conditions.

A fully tetrahedrally bonded boron nitride (BN) allotrope with an orthorhombic structure (O-BN) was investigated through first-principles calculations. O-BN has a bulk modulus of 371.8 GPa and a hardness of 66.4 GPa, thereby making it a superhard material with potential technological and industrial applications. O-BN becomes thermodynamically more stable than layered hexagonal BN (h-BN) at pressure above 1.5 GPa and is more favorable than the recently reported Pct-BN at any pressure. The phase transformations from h-BN and BN nanotubes to O-BN were respectively simulated, indicating the feasible synthesis of this superhard phase.