科学家设计出比钻石更硬的物质

Scientists have found a new way to structure carbon at the nanoscale, making a material that's superior to diamond on the strength-to-density ratio.

科学家发现了一种新的方法构造纳米级碳，做出了一种在强度密度比上优于钻石的物质。

While the tiny carbon lattice has been fabricated and tested in the lab, it's a very long way off practical use. But this new approach could help us build stronger and lighter materials in the future - which is something that's of great interest to industries such as aerospace and aviation.

虽然做出了这种微碳晶格，在实验室中进行了测试，但还不能用于实际应用。但这种新的方法能帮我们在未来构造出更坚固更轻的物质，航空航天等行业对此会非常感兴趣。

What we're talking about here is something known as a nanolattices - porous structures like the one in the image above that's made up of three-dimensional carbon struts and braces. Due to their unique structure, they're incredibly strong and lightweight.

我们讨论的是纳米晶格，这种多孔结构如上图所示，是由三维碳素支柱和支撑构成的。由于其结构独特，所以异常坚固轻便。

Usually these nanolattices are based around a cylindrical framework (they're called beam-nanolattices). But the team has now created plate-nanolattices, structures based around tiny plates.

通常这种纳米晶格是以圆柱形框架为基础的（我们称之为束纳米晶格）。但这个团队现在创造出了平板纳米晶格，是基于微型平板的结构。

This subtle shift may not sound like much, but the researchers say it can make a big difference when it comes to strength.

这种微妙的变化可能听起来没什么，但研究人员说这对强度有很大影响。

Based on early experiments and calculations, the plate approach promises a 639 percent increase in strength and a 522 percent increase in rigidity over the beam nanolattice approach.

基于早期的实验和计算，这种平板结构与束纳米晶格相比，强度会提高639%，硬度会提高522%。

"Scientists have predicted that nanolattices arranged in a plate-based design would be incredibly strong," says materials scientist Cameron Crook, from the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

加利福尼亚大学尔湾分校材料科学家Cameron Crook说：“科学家预测平板设计的纳米晶格会异常坚固。”

"But the difficulty in manufacturing structures this way meant that the theory was never proven, until we succeeded in doing it."

“但以这种方式制造结构的困难程度说明这一理论从未被证实过，我们得成功做出来才行。”