A new form of diamond has been created. Its unique structure gives it properties that are similar to those of natural diamonds, but it is more stable under extreme heat, so may be useful in tools ...

The Structure of a Buckyball Back to See Inside a Diamond Click and drag the molecule to rotate it. PC users - click right button in window for options.

Chemical Composition First of all, let's look at the chemical compositions of these two forms of carbon. Diamonds are essentially pure carbon formed into a crystalline structure.

Both diamond and graphite are made entirely out of carbon, as is the more recently discovered buckminsterfullerene (a discrete soccer-ball-shaped molecule containing carbon 60 atoms).

Alternate crystal structures sharing the same chemical composition, ... and the all-carbon structure outperformed both diamond and w-BN with a strength of 152 GPa, ...