h a l f b a k e r yA dish best served not.
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A pure graphite pencil which has a diamond blade at the other end.
This is made by taking a hexagonal column of graphite and applying
extreme pressure and heat to half of it along a transverse axis,
squashing it and converting it to diamond. This enables one end to be
used as a very durable,
sharp blade and the other as a writing
implement. Alternatively, the blade can be used as a pen by drawing
blood and writing with it. It needs to be held with some kind of spongy
protective holder when written or drawn with.
I have a question. If the pressure in forming such a device is applied as
a gradient, are there intermediate graphite/carbon allotropes and if so,
what are they like?
Obviously you'd throw it away when you ran out of graphite.
https://www.newscie...s-hardest-material/
[hippo, Jan 09 2017]
[link]
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If you break it in half you can sharpen the pencil. |
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Hardness and durability are different things. |
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I don't think there is a smooth transition. The heat/pressure will make a fracture gap. |
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Maybe if the intervening Carbon continuum was all different C containing molecules, just like the Metamorphosis print, then you could get something that stuck to graphite and transition to something that stuck to/into diamond. All solidified with pressure and heat. |
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Also thanks I will look into the canadian programme Continuum. |
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Is there a reason why there can't be bits of graphite
embedded in diamond or vice versa? What happens with
black diamonds? |
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Diamond would make a fairly crappy knife blade. It's
way too brittle (as well as not being heat-resistant,
etc.) |
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Wurtzite boron nitride, of course (see link) |
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