Development of Superhard Sintered Fullerene Balls and Rollers for Bearings

"We propose to make ball and roller bearings from a new superhard carbon material, called DiamoniteO. High speed bearings (~50,000-100,000 rpm) are at the heart of most high speed mechanical devices, including touchdown bearings, turbine bearings, andback-up bearings for magnetically suspended flywheels. Diamonite(TM) is harder than SiC and Si3N4. Its isotropic properties make the material highly fracture resistant and readily polishable to a nanometer scale. DiamoniteO is a non-crystalline materialformed by high pressure sintering (>1 GPa/400¿C) of C60 fullerenes. These process parameters allow near net-shape pieces to be formed. In Phase I, we will focus on proof-of-principle development of Diamonite(TM) rollers and balls for precision bearings.The technology developed in Phase I will enable implementation of DiamoniteO into a wide range of high speed bearing applications in Phase II and III. This work will be carried out in collaboration with a leading, matching fund, ceramic bearingmanufacturer and other researchers who have contributed to this technology. The superhard isotropic nanograin nature of Diamonite(TM) will yield hard, tough, shock-, chip- and fracture-resistant lightweight bearings (and other products), which will be muchmore durable than known steels and ceramics. Diamonite(TM) will find application in many areas including: bearings, cutters, penetrators, ion engines, lightweight armor and rocket parts, among