Scientists create nanofiber diamonds, which can bend without breaking

Recently, a group of physicists published a report on diamond bending. Of course, it is not bending normal needles, but only nano-sized diamonds. But this is still a great achievement, because diamonds are so hard, to the point "can only be broken but can not bend."

In this new experiment, researchers have created nano-sized diamond fibers , with the ability to stretch and bend arbitrarily without breaking.

Bending diamonds at microscopic size.

"We are curious to know where the limits of bending and stretching of these diamonds are," said researcher Ming Dao, from MIT. "The plasticity of these diamond fibers makes many people surprised."

Researchers etched diamonds into nanoscale strands, about 2,000 nanometers long on silicon surfaces, and electronically microscopically experimented with them. They used a larger diamond tip to propel the nanofiber's head upward, and then observed the diamond process back to its original shape. Deformation amplitude is about 442nm, and when pushed to 464nm, the diamond fiber will break.

Why is diamond fiber so flexible?

Possible application of these nano-diamond fibers is to store data.

"When materials exist at the microscopic level, they have many interesting and unique properties that do not appear at larger sizes," said Heidi Culver of the University of Colorado. In other words, these diamond strands are pure diamonds, but they possess special properties only when in nanosize.

According to the report, possible applications of these nano-diamond fibers are to store data , either to put the drug directly into the cell, or to create ultra-strong nanostructures. However, before discussing practical applications, Ming Dao's team had to clarify whether, under pressure, the chemical properties of the diamond fibers have changed.

"Who would have thought that one day we would bend diamonds," Ming Dao said.