A team of researchers from the Center for Advanced Research in High Pressure Science and Technology (HPSTAR) and
They compressed glassy carbon, an amorphous form of porouscarbon, together with gaseous argon up to 50 GPa. This is about 500,000 times normal atmospheric pressure, and then the sample was heated to over 1,800°C.
Glassy carbon, under normal conditionsgas-tight, absorbs argon at high pressures like a sponge. The combined use of pressure and temperature turns carbon into diamond. As a result, solid argon under high pressure is trapped and held in the pores of a durable stone.
Artistic illustration of an argon capsule inside a diamond crystal, which can be studied using various observation methods. Image: Charles Zeng
After cooling, the new material behaves likenanocrystalline diamond composite. Numerous pores of the material are tiny diamond capsules filled with argon. The study showed that a residual argon pressure of 22 GPa is maintained inside such capsules. In this case, the gas is protected only by a thin shell 1 nm thick.
The researchers note that the proposed methodcan be used not only for argon, but also for other materials. At the same time, high-pressure structures inside thin diamond capsules are easy to study using various diagnostic methods. This will help to learn more about the atomic structure, composition and nature of bonds. In addition, such materials can be useful for creating compact sensors and physical devices.
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