Diamond is a solid form of carbon with a diamond cubic crystal
structure. At room temperature and pressure it is meta-stable and
graphite is the stable form, but diamond almost never converts to
graphite. Diamond is renowned for its superlative physical
qualities, most of which originate from the strong convalescent
bonding between its atoms. In particular, it has the highest
hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material. Those
properties determine the major industrial applications of diamond
in cutting and polishing tools and the scientific applications in
diamond knives and diamond anvil cells.
