Inward motion of diamond nanoparticles inside an iron crystal

Yuecun Wang, Xudong Wang, Jun Ding, Beiming Liang, Lingling Zuo, Shaochuan Zheng, Longchao Huang, Wei Xu, Chuanwei Fan, Zhanqiang Duan, Chunde Jia, Rui Zheng, Zhang Liu, Wei Zhang, Ju Li, En Ma () and Zhiwei Shan ()
Additional contact information
Yuecun Wang: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Xudong Wang: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Jun Ding: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Beiming Liang: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Lingling Zuo: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Shaochuan Zheng: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Longchao Huang: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Wei Xu: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Chuanwei Fan: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Zhanqiang Duan: Shenyang Ligong University
Chunde Jia: Shenyang Ligong University
Rui Zheng: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Zhang Liu: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Wei Zhang: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Ju Li: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
En Ma: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Zhiwei Shan: Xi’an Jiaotong University

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract In the absence of externally applied mechanical loading, it would seem counterintuitive that a solid particle sitting on the surface of another solid could not only sink into the latter, but also continue its rigid-body motion towards the interior, reaching a depth as distant as thousands of times the particle diameter. Here, we demonstrate such a case using in situ microscopic as well as bulk experiments, in which diamond nanoparticles ~100 nm in size move into iron up to millimeter depth, at a temperature about half of the melting point of iron. Each diamond nanoparticle is nudged as a whole, in a displacive motion towards the iron interior, due to a local stress induced by the accumulation of iron atoms diffusing around the particle via a short and easy interfacial channel. Our discovery underscores an unusual mass transport mode in solids, in addition to the familiar diffusion of individual atoms.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48692-5

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