{
  "abstract": "Our knowledge of crystals rests on precisely measured structural models, which are lacking for amorphous matter. Without long-range order, the available experimental evidence matches competing structural models, including paracrystalline and random network models, limiting our understanding of formation mechanisms and properties. This impedes discovery of new amorphous materials, including high-density sp³-rich carbons, among the hardest known. We show that the pair-angle distribution function (PADF) overcomes these limitations, applying it to a non-crystalline sp³-rich carbon produced by compression of fullerenes at room temperature. The PADF reveals that this phase contains nanostructures with distinct short-range (4th-5th neighbours, < 5 Å) and medium-range (5-10 Å) order. The nanostructure planes and angles relate to diamond, suggesting coordinated diamond-like tetrahedra too disordered to be nanodiamonds. The characterisation of nanoscale disorder via the PADF thus offers insight into the nature of structural order in amorphous materials and the formation pathways of diamond-like materials.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Physics, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia.",
    "Department of Materials Physics, Research School of Physics, The Australian National University, Acton, 2601, ACT, Australia.",
    "Curtin University, Wark Ave, Bentley, 6102, Western Australia, Australia.",
    "RMIT Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia.",
    "Center for Sustainable Energy Materials, Department of Chemistry and iNANO, Aarhus University, Langelandsgade 140, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.",
    "Department of Physics, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia. andrew.martin@rmit.edu.au."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 15,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Alan G Salek",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7229-332X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hendrik Heimes",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9007-5035"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Ethan P Turner",
      "orcid": "0009-0009-1390-5005"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Edwin L H Mayes",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6668-444X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Rebekka Klemmt",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-4912-2043"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jessica Wierbik",
      "orcid": "0009-0005-4012-2664"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Xingshuo Huang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "William R Dunstan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Krysta-Leigh Douglass"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ryan Hogg"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Nigel A Marks"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Espen D Bøjesen",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9352-9514"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jodie E Bradby"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Dougal G McCulloch",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4548-1955"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Andrew V Martin",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3704-1829"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fav7z7258r18h.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41467-026-77822-4",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13680357",
  "id": "fav7z7258r18h",
  "issns": [
    "2041-1723"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42897189",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2505|X-ray Diffraction in Crystallography"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213458187",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13680357?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13680357",
  "pmid": "42897189",
  "published": "2026-09-17",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fav7z7258r18h.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:41Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42897189",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42897189"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2505|X-ray Diffraction in Crystallography",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Towards a quantitative description of nanostructured order in amorphous diamond-like carbon.",
  "title_text": "Towards a quantitative description of nanostructured order in amorphous diamond-like carbon.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fav7z7258r18h",
  "venue": "Nature communications",
  "versions": []
}