Carbon is everywhere. It forms the graphite in pencils, the diamonds in jewelry and the molecules that make up every living thing. But under extreme conditions — like the heat and pressure of intense explosions — carbon can transform into exotic nanometer-sized structures called nanocarbons. These materials are often stronger than steel, lighter than plastic and adaptable for uses in medicine, energy and national security.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and partner universities are uncovering how carbon behaves in extreme environments. By combining physics, chemistry, supercomputers and artificial intelligence (AI), researchers are learning to predict and control the ways that carbon atoms rearrange themselves under intense heat and pressure. Their discoveries open the door to designing materials before they are ever made in a laboratory.
Their findings are now out in the journal Carbon.
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