NEWS
Cubic boron nitride (CBN) is a kind of artificial superhard material, its atomic structure is similar to that of carbon atoms in diamond, has the characteristics of high density, hardness second only to diamond.
Mainly used as abrasives and tool materials.
As early as 1957, researchers from GE Company in the United States used artificial methods to synthesize cubic boron nitride for the first time under ultra-high temperature and high pressure conditions, but the natural cubic boron nitride has not been discovered.
Cubic boron nitride is therefore considered to be a synthetic product and does not occur in nature.
Until 2009, scientists at the University of California, Riverside and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, together with colleagues from institutions in China and Germany,
The mineral is found in chromium-rich rocks in the ancient oceanic crust about 306 kilometers underground in the mountains of the southern Tibetan Plateau of China.
The crystals formed under high pressures of 118,430 atmospheres.
In August 2013, the International Mineralogical Association officially recognized the new mineral, cubic boron nitride.
