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Nitrogen 'Diamond' Created

Posted by michael on from the squish dept.

Sensible Clod writes "Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry have synthesized a new form of nitrogen, with a stucture like that of diamond. This was accomplished by means of a crushing force (>110 GPa) at extremely high temperature (2000 K), of course. The result, according to PhysOrg, is a very hard crystal with a lot of energy stored in it, which leads to the possibility of using it as a non-polluting fuel or high-explosive."

5 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Properties? by justanyone · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Several Questions:
    1. Translucent?
    2. Melting point?
    3. Stable at STP ?
    4. Does It Burn if I touch a match to it? Explode?
    5. Does it resemble N2, which is stable, or not?
    6. What is the hardness level (Mohr's scale) ?
    7. Will it degrade over time under exposure to water?
    8. Is the method for creating it highly expensive or could this be scaled up?
    9. If it is explosive, how do we store it safely?
    10. What are the mechanical properties? If it's stable and otherwise useful, will it vibrate with a piezoelectric effect?
    11. Is it a semiconductor, conductor, or insulator?
    12. Does it lase (can we use it as a pump medium for a laser) ?

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    1. Re:Properties? by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 4, Insightful

      From the article:
      "First of all, we should try to recover the compound to ambient temperature and pressure", Eremets says.

      Translation: "It spontaneously goes poof (or kaboom) when we release the pressure in the machine."

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  2. But the trick is always... by Banner · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Getting the energy out in a controllable stream, not all at once. It's not the storage of energy that is ever the issue: Capacitors and high-explosives store lots. It's just getting it out the way you want it that is the trick.

    1. Re:But the trick is always... by Ayaress · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I guess that's why they listed high explosive among the uses. Even if you can't control the blast whatsoever, if it blows up, you can find a use for it.

  3. Re:Fuel? Baah. by JohnPM · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Think rocket fuel. The weight is critical to how much fuel you'll need. Lighter fuels are invaluable even if it takes heaps of energy to generate them.

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