Materials scientists at the University of South Florida turned to artificial intelligence (AI) to explore a groundbreaking form of carbon, dubbed BC8. This ultra-strong material is reported to be about 30% harder than diamond, which has long been recognized as one of the toughest natural materials. The findings appear in a peer‑reviewed issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters [citation: Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters].
BC8 is an eight-atom crystal whose predicted behavior, drawn from simulations on the Frontier supercomputer, indicates that its synthesis would require a narrow window of high pressures and precise temperatures that are not yet attainable in typical laboratory settings.
Researchers also suggest that the right formation conditions for BC8 could exist on certain carbon-rich exoplanets, opening intriguing possibilities for carbon chemistry beyond Earth.
Calculations indicate that BC8 would remain extremely stable at ultra-high pressures, around 1250 gigapascals, a figure vastly exceeding atmospheric pressure on Earth by millions of times. While BC8 shares a similar atomic framework with diamond, its structure lacks the cleavage planes found in diamonds, which are the primary points of fracture in many gemstones.
In related work, scientists have previously explored rapid or unconventional methods to locate carbon-rich materials, including biological approaches that reveal new insights into how diamonds might form under unique conditions [citation: Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters].