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Chinese Team Crafts Hammer-Proof Diamond, Toughness Six Times Higher

8/11/2026

34 4 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beihang University researchers created a hammer-proof diamond.
They published the results in Nature Synthesis online on July 9.
An internal lattice of multi-walled carbon nanotubes boosted toughness sixfold without changing hardness.
The toughness now exceeds that of tungsten alloys used in armour-piercing ammunition.
The nanotubes are about one-ten-thousandth a human hair wide and dozens of times stronger than steel.

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Story summary

Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beihang University researchers created a hammer-proof diamond.
They published the results in Nature Synthesis online on July 9.
An internal lattice of multi-walled carbon nanotubes boosted toughness sixfold without changing hardness.
The toughness now exceeds that of tungsten alloys used in armour-piercing ammunition.
The nanotubes are about one-ten-thousandth a human hair wide and dozens of times stronger than steel.