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Diamond is clear and transparent, but graphite is black and opaque. Diamond is the hardest mineral known (10 on the Mohs scale), but graphite is one of the softest (1–2 on Mohs scale). Diamond is the ultimate abrasive, but graphite is soft and is a very good lubricant. Diamond is an excellent electrical insulator, but graphite is an excellent ...
Diamond and graphite are two allotropes of carbon: pure forms of the same element that differ in crystalline structure.. Allotropy or allotropism (from Ancient Greek ἄλλος (allos) ' other ' and τρόπος (tropos) ' manner, form ') is the property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, in the same physical state, known as allotropes of the elements.
Above the graphite–diamond–liquid carbon triple point, the melting point of diamond increases slowly with increasing pressure; but at pressures of hundreds of GPa, it decreases. [14] At high pressures, silicon and germanium have a BC8 body-centered cubic crystal structure, and a similar structure is predicted for carbon at high pressures.
In diamond, all the carbon-to-carbon bonds, both within a layer of rings and between them, are in the staggered conformation, thus causing all four cubic-diagonal directions to be equivalent; whereas in lonsdaleite the bonds between layers are in the eclipsed conformation, which defines the axis of hexagonal symmetry.
As diamond is less stable than graphite, c-BN is less stable than h-BN, but the conversion rate between those forms is negligible at room temperature. [ 30 ] Cubic boron nitride is insoluble in iron, nickel, and related alloys at high temperatures, but it binds well with metals due to formation of interlayers of metal borides and nitrides.
Graphite forms intercalation compounds with some metals and small molecules. In these compounds, the host molecule or atom gets "sandwiched" between the graphite layers, resulting in a type of compound with variable stoichiometry. A prominent example of an intercalation compound is potassium graphite, denoted by the formula KC 8.
Diamond is extremely strong owing to its crystal structure, known as diamond cubic, in which each carbon atom has four neighbors covalently bonded to it. Bulk cubic boron nitride (c-BN) is nearly as hard as diamond. Diamond reacts with some materials, such as steel, and c-BN wears less when cutting or abrading such material. [4]
The diamond allotrope of carbon is clearly nonmetallic, being translucent and having a low electrical conductivity of 10 −14 to 10 −16 S·cm −1. [516] Graphite has an electrical conductivity of 3 × 10 4 S·cm −1, [517] a figure more characteristic of a metal. Phosphorus, sulfur, arsenic, selenium, antimony, and bismuth also have less ...