PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2015
Like diamonds in the sky, Technion nano-diamonds reach for the stars. Right now, the precious nano jewels are travelling in space. When they return, they will bring the planet’s top space researchers vital information about future uses of nanotechnology beyond this world.
The Atlantis space shuttle brought two RBNI nano-diamonds to the International Space Station in 2009. The nano-diamonds will spend a year in space and return to earth for analysis. This will bring data for the possibility of using nanodiamonds in space applications such as satellites. Nano Ph.D student Ze’ev Shpilman is researching the interaction between diamonds – the hardest material on earth – and the space environment. “In the future, diamonds in space could be used for clear optical coatings that conduct heat or detect radiation,” explains Shpilman. In an article published in Applied Physics Letters by Prof. Hoffman, Dr. Irina Gouzman, and Ze’ev Shpilman, the scientists reported the discoveries made in the space simulation lab at Soreq NRC: if diamonds are grown in the lab in a specific direction, slowly and methodically – they will then be more durable in the space environment. The Israeli scientists teamed up with a group from Montana State University, where Prof. Tim Minton’s group also tested the diamonds with another kind of simulator, and included them in their set of samples for a NASA mission.