Scientists studying diamonds inside an ancient meteorite have found a strange interwoven structure.
Researchers say that the structure could be used to develop super-fast charging or new types of electronics in the future.
The diamond structures were locked inside the meteorite that slammed into Earth 50,000 years ago. Most people don't know that the diamonds in this meteorite are different from what they're used to.
Diamonds were formed around 90 miles beneath Earth's surface at a temperature of more than 1,100 degrees Celsius. The diamond's carbon atoms are arranged in different ways.
The diamonds inside the Canyon Diablo meteorite are named after British crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, University College London's first female professor. Diamonds are formed under extremely high pressures.
When asteroids strike Earth at high speeds, lonsdaleite can only be formed in a lab, where gunpowder and compressed air are used.
A diamond hauled from deep inside Earth has never before been seen.
The researchers found something strange while studying the meteorite. The researchers found growths of another carbon-based material called Graphene interlocking with the diamond instead of the hexagonal structures they were expecting.
Diaphites are growths inside the meteorite, and they form in a unique pattern. The researchers said in a statement that the layers don't line up perfectly in between.
The scientists wrote in the study that finding diaphites in the meteorite suggests that it can be found in other carbonaceous material. The researchers have a better idea of the pressures and temperatures that need to be created.
A sheet of carbon is arranged in hexagonal shapes. The material has a lot of potential applications.
One day, it could be used for more targeted medicines, tinier electronics with light ning-fast charging speeds, or faster and bend, because it is both light and strong.
It's possible to learn more about how these growths form, and how to make them in the lab, thanks to the discovery of these growths inside meteorites.
It should be possible to design materials that are both ultra-hard and also ductile, as well as have variable electronic properties, thanks to the controlled layer growth of structures.
The strange structures were described in the journal.
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The original article was published by Live Science. The original article can be found here.
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