The Technological Institute for Superhard and Novel Carbon Materials in Troitsk, along with the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), National University of Science and Technology (MISiS), and Moscow State Univ. (MSU) have taken the first steps to develop a material harder than a diamond. The new method of developing the ultrahard material was published in an academic article in Carbon journal, where the synthesis of ultrahard fullerite is explained in detail. In fact, natural diamonds have a hardness of almost 150 GPa, whereas ultrahard fullerate ranges from 150 to 300 GPa.
There are several other materials that are harder than a diamond, called ultra hard materials. The newly discovered ultrahard fullerite has molecules interconnected by covalent bonfs in all directions, forming a three-dimensional polymer. The material is not yet up for production on an industrial level. CJ
