Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) have made rhenium diboride, an “ultra-hard material” in a process that does not require applying pressure. Ultra-hard materials are used in the construction of new roads, for drills that bore for oil, and for
scratch-resistant coatings. While diamond is the hardest known natural substance, it cannot drill though certain materials; a chemical reaction with iron causes a diamond blade to fail.
At low applied forces, the hardness of rhenium diboride is equivalent to cubic boron nitride, the second-hardest material known. At higher applied forces, rhenium diboride is a little bit below that.
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