Carbon clusters formed from shocked benzene

Benzene (C₆H₆), while stable under ambient conditions, can become chemically reactive at high pressures and temperatures, such as under shock loading conditions. Here, we report in situ x-ray diffraction and small angle x-ray scattering measurements of liquid benzene shocked to 55 GPa, capturing the morphology and crystalline structure of the shock-driven reaction products at nanosecond timescales. The shock-driven chemical reactions in benzene observed using coherent XFEL x-rays were a complex mixture of products composed of carbon and hydrocarbon allotropes. In contrast to the conventional description of diamond, methane and hydrogen formation, our present results indicate that benzene's shock-driven reaction products consist of layered sheet-like hydrocarbon structures and nanosized carbon clusters with mixed sp²-sp³ hybridized bonding. Implications of these findings range from guiding shock synthesis of novel compounds to the fundamentals of carbon transport in planetary physics.