Q-carbon

Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered a distinct new solid phase of the carbon known as Q-carbon. Q-carbon is magnetic, electro-conductive, glows in the dark, is relatively inexpensive to make and is the world’s hardest substance. It has the potential to convert carbon into diamond easily.

According to researchers, the only place Q-carbon might be found in the natural world is in the core of certain planets. To create carbon, first, the sapphire is coated with amorphous carbon by using a high-power laser beam. Then carbon is hit with laser again, raising its temperature to about 4,000 kelvin, and then rapidly cooled, or quenched, the melted carbon. It is the stage of quenching from where “Q” in Q-carbon comes.

Researchers say that Q-carbon was discovered after a long search to find a mechanism for carbon to diamond conversion. The whole process of creation of Q-carbon is inexpensive. This whole process of creating Q-carbon is relatively inexpensive. It is created at room temperature and at ambient air pressure by using a laser. The potential uses for Q-carbon are largely speculative, but it might provide tools for industry and medicine, for electronic parts or for creating brighter, longer-lasting display technologies.