• Question: Is it possible to make a non-natural material which is stronger than diamond ?

    Asked by anon-240738 to Emily on 10 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Emily Goddard

      Emily Goddard answered on 10 Mar 2020:

      Yes, a lot of work goes into materials design.

      One of the ways is by looking at the structure of very strong materials like diamond, and then trying to mimic them with different elements. Interestingly, it’s been found that lab-grown diamond can sometimes be stronger then natural diamond!

      There’s also a lot of research into graphene rolled into nanotunes. When these tiny tubes are all put together they can make a very very strong thin sheet of material.

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