Observation of higher stiffness in nanopolycrystal diamond than monocrystal diamond

Kenichi Tanigaki, Hirotsugu Ogi (), Hitoshi Sumiya, Koichi Kusakabe, Nobutomo Nakamura, Masahiko Hirao and Hassel Ledbetter
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Kenichi Tanigaki: Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
Hirotsugu Ogi: Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
Hitoshi Sumiya: Advanced Materials R&D Laboratories, Sumitomo Electric Industries, LTD., 1-1-1, Koyakita, Itami, Hyogo 664, Japan
Koichi Kusakabe: Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
Nobutomo Nakamura: Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
Masahiko Hirao: Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
Hassel Ledbetter: University of Colorado

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Diamond is the stiffest known material. Here we report that nanopolycrystal diamond synthesized by direct-conversion method from graphite is stiffer than natural and synthesized monocrystal diamonds. This observation departs from the usual thinking that nanocrystalline materials are softer than their monocrystals because of a large volume fraction of soft grain-boundary region. The direct conversion causes the nondiffusional phase transformation to cubic diamond, producing many twins inside diamond grains. We give an ab initio-calculation twinned model that confirms the stiffening. We find that shorter interplane bonds along [111] are significantly strengthened near the twinned region, from which the superstiff structure originates. Our discovery provides a novel step forward in the search for superstiff materials.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3343

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