Production of ultra-hard particles

Claim 1

Ultra-hard particles having covalently bonded lattice structures composed largely of carbon on an atomic basis and produced by the reaction of Al 4 C 3 with a member selected from the group consisting of CH n X A Y.sub.(4-n)-A, C 2 H n' X A' Y.sub.(6-n')-A', C 2 H n" X A" Y.sub.(4-n")-A" and X 2 wherein X and Y are different halogens selected from the group consisting of chlorine, bromine, iodine and fluorine, and wherein A is an integer from 0 to 4, A' is an integer from 0 to 6 and A" is an integer from 0 to 4, and wherein n is an integer from 0 to 4, n' is an integer from 0 to 6 and n" is an integer from 0 to 4, wherein A, A', A", n, n' or n" is the same integer in any particular member selected and wherein n+A=4, n'+A'=6 and n"+A"=4, said reaction being carried out at temperatures from about 100° to 700° C. and pressures from about 0.1 to 100 atmospheres or higher in a hot melt system having substantially no solvency capability for carbon while exhibiting substantial solvent and penetrant capability for Al 2 O 3 and hydroxy aluminous complexes which naturally form on the surface of aluminum or aluminum carbide in the presence of oxygen or water, said hot melt system comprising a molten solution of more than one metal halide wherein the metals are selected from the group consisting of Group I, Group II and Group III metals of the periodic table and the halides are selected from the group consisting of chlorine, bromine, iodine and fluorine.