By Mohd Amirul Faisal
The far reaches of the Solar System has eluded us with such wonder ever since Nicholas Copernicus sparked the modern-day astronomy with his profound observations of stellar celestial objects in the sky.
Nowadays, scientists are now beginning not just to search for foreign minerals that are not native to the planet but also forging plans to mine them for numerous purposes.
Our cutting-edge technology has allowed us to peek into some of the Solar System’s neighborhood flooded with planets, moons and asteroids.
Yes, asteroids – One of the major causes that lead to the mass extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. However, there is something far more interesting hiding within the layers of these colossal space rocks. If it is raining diamonds on Uranus and Neptune, then a group of minerals previously believed to not exist were recently discovered inside those meteorites and they are tougher than diamonds.
Move over diamond – make way for the newest member in Mohs Scale
Meet lonsdaleite, a mineral whose existence has only been confirmed in recent research after years of debate among scientists. Londsdaleite is relatively similar to the mineral diamond in that both are composed of carbon However, what makes the former have higher winning streaks (you see what I did there?) in terms of durability than the latter boils down to their crystal structures.
The atomic structure of lonsdaleite is hexagonal, whereas that of a diamond is cubic. What is the stark difference then? The hexagonal form crystal structure provides lonsdaleite 58% more strength than diamond. Even lab-synthesized injected with a similar structure has proven to be more durable than regular diamonds which further disputes this notion.
Since these minerals are made of carbon, does it justify including a new member in the Mohs Scale scaling above the diamond? Well, it is up to the scientific community to decide. Nevertheless, lonsdaleite’s origins can be traced back to the structure of a meteorite far away from a peculiar dwarf planet and the most recent discovery comes from collection of lonsdaleite found in a meteorite that landed in Africa.
Smashed into a million pieces – birth of a new stone
The londsdaleite was found in a meteorite believed to be originated from a distant dwarf planet located hundreds of millions of kilometers away from us. Fortunately, it was a catastrophic event which happened around 4.5 billion years ago when the Earth and the Sun alongside other neighboring planets were still forming. An asteroid most likely crashed into the dwarf planet, releasing an immense amount of pressure in the process that leads to the formation of the mineral. For the record, a dwarf planet cannot be regarded as a true planet considering it failed to satisfy the three requirements set forth by the IAU for the definition of a full-sized planet.
As a result of the asteroid’s collision, the dwarf planet blew into smaller pieces that would not only transform into meteorites but also marks the efflorescence of londsdaleite alongside diamonds as well. These hard-to-be minerals can be traced back inside the meteorites which most likely originated from the mantle of a shattered dwarf planet in the inner solar system.
To unravel the truth behind the existence of londsdaleite, researchers from Monash University, RMIT University, CSIRO, the Australian Synchrotron and Plymouth University brought several samples back to their labs and peer through the powerful scanning electron microscope. What they have found are londsdaleite crystals which disputes the fact that these minerals do indeed exist in nature. What is more impressive about them is that the biggest londsdaleite crystals can measure up to a micron in size. That is even smaller than the thickness of the human hair!
Can you make londsaleite in labs?
Lab-grown diamonds in terms of physical, chemical and optical properties are all identical to naturally occurring diamonds. The only difference is that the ones found in nature are subjected to crushing pressure and intense heat hundreds of kilometres away deep in the bowels of the Earth.
Since lonsdaleite is more durable than the regular diamonds, is it possible to even cook them in a lab? All scientists have to do is to replicate the process that numerous other industrial sectors had already implemented to produce high quality and durable materials but operates at a high pressure – a chemical reaction that goes by the name of supercritical chemical vapour deposition. The very same process that previously took place in the mantel of the dwarf planet shortly after the cataclysmic collision. This involves heating the seed to about 800C while it is enclosed in a sealed chamber filled with carbon-rich gas. In these circumstances, the gases start to “stick” to the seed, atom by atom creating a diamond.
Remarkably, other researchers managed to create lonsdaleite by accident. They unintentionally discovered that they could make the minerals using a specialized tool known as the diamond anvil cell at room temperature. This device is designed to recreate the pressure that would only be possible in the interior of planets to synthesize materials not observed under normal conditions.
It’s only a matter of time before lonsdaleite is used for a variety of industrial purposes, as seen by its extraordinary toughness and resilience when compared to diamond. It might be useful for new production methods for ultra-hard components in future mining applications.
On the other side of the spectrum, researchers are more interested in knowing about its role in the interactions of the Universe and the formation of planet Earth and the Solar System. Progression in technology and discoveries wise can also teach us about other alien materials that existed on other celestial bodies that we would not know existed.
References:-
- Thomas, J. (2022, September 15). Scientists discover origins of mysterious Lonsdaleite Space Diamonds. Innovation News Network. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.innovationnewsnetwork.com/scientists-discover-origins-of-mysterious-lonsdaleite-space-diamonds/25449/.
- Hurst, L. (2022, September 14). Ultra-hard diamonds found in Africa fell from space, study finds. euronews. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/09/14/ultra-hard-lonsdaleite-diamonds-fallen-from-space-could-end-up-in-machinery.
- Rascoe, A. (2022, September 18). Scientists have found a mineral stronger than diamond. NPR. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.npr.org/2022/09/18/1123689572/scientists-have-found-a-mineral-stronger-than-diamond.
- Rascoe, A. (2022, September 18). Scientists have found a mineral stronger than diamond. KPCC. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.kpcc.org/2022-09-18/scientists-have-found-a-mineral-stronger-than-diamond.
- Tomkins, A. G., Wilson, N. C., MacRae, C., Salek, A., Field, M. R., Brand, H. E., Langendam, A. D., Stephen, N. R., Torpy, A., Pintér, Z., Jennings, L. A., & McCulloch, D. G. (2022). Sequential Lonsdaleite to diamond formation in Ureilite meteorites via in situ chemical fluid/vapor deposition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(38). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2208814119
- Hurst, L. (2022, September 14). Ultra-hard diamonds found in Africa fell from space, study finds. euronews. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/09/14/ultra-hard-lonsdaleite-diamonds-fallen-from-space-could-end-up-in-machinery.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonsdaleite
Et illuminare 