Since the discovery of natural single-crystal diamond, another type of diamond called "carbonado" (black diamond) has also been found. This type of diamond is very rare in nature.
Research has found that it is a blocky polycrystalline composed of a large number of diamond single-crystal particles and trace impurities. The randomly arranged diamond particles give it the characteristic of having no cleavage plane, which in turn makes its hardness, strength, and wear resistance superior to traditional single-crystal diamonds. The inspiration for human manufacturing of poly diamond powder comes from the understanding of its structure. This article will detail the differences between poly diamond powder and natural diamond.
Natural Diamond
A single-crystal structure formed by pure carbon atoms via covalent bonds, with a perfect lattice arrangement, formed in high-temperature and high-pressure environments deep within the Earth's crust.
Poly Diamond Powder
Made up of micron-sized diamond particles bonded by metal catalysts, presenting a polycrystalline composite structure and synthesized through artificial high-temperature and high-pressure technology.
Hardness Characteristics
Natural Diamond: Mohs hardness of 10, exhibiting anisotropy with differing hardness on different crystal faces.
Poly Diamond Powder: Vickers hardness of 80-100 GPa, exhibiting isotropy with uniform overall hardness distribution.
Toughness Performance
Natural Diamond: Significantly brittle, easily fracturing along cleavage planes when impacted.
Poly Diamond Powder: Through grain boundary stress dispersion mechanisms, impact resistance is increased by more than 30%.
Suitable Fields for Natural Diamond
Geological drilling bits
Ultra-precise cutting tools
High-precision optical device processing
Advantageous Fields for Poly Diamond Powder
High-speed cutting of composite materials
Automobile engine block processing
Precision mold manufacturing
Natural Diamond: Still maintains irreplaceability in the field of nanometer-scale processing.
Poly Diamond Powder: Moving towards ultra-high toughness through improvements in the bonding phase components.
In summary, poly diamond powder not only possesses hardness and wear resistance approaching that of single-crystal diamond but also has superior anisotropy and impact resistance comparable to hard alloys. Therefore, it is widely used in high-speed cutting of composite materials, automobile engine block processing, precision mold manufacturing, as well as in oil and gas extraction, coal geological exploration, and mechanical processing fields.