Is there a boom in cheap diamonds? Scientists found a patent
Faster, cheaper, more ecological. Scientists are able to produce diamonds that are an alternative to those found on Earth. Does this mean a revolution on the jewelry market?
Scientists in South Korea have created tiny diamonds that can constitute a more environmentally friendly alternative to natural diamonds. Researchers fused a series of liquefied metals with carbon gases at extreme temperatures that reduced them to carbon atoms. These, in turn, were combined with silicon, creating a diamond. In the United States, a one-carat princess cut diamond would cost an average of $2,500 US dollars, while its lab-grown counterpart costs just 500.
Less pressure on diamonds
It takes millions, and sometimes billions, of years for a natural diamond to form. Meanwhile, scientists are preparing its alternative they only needed 2 and a half hours. Are there any differences between them? Laboratory-grown diamonds They do not differ from natural diamonds to the naked eye. The differences can only be seen under a microscope.
Although these are not the first such artificial diamonds, this discovery may change a lot on the market. The researchers mixed liquid gallium, iron, nickel and silicon in a cup-shaped vessel used to melt the substances and heated it to 1,025 degrees Celsius. The metals were exposed to methane and hydrogen gases, which dissolved in the coal gas. When the remaining carbon gas combined with the silicon, forced carbon atoms to combine to form small crystals. The new method has shown that the production of artificial diamonds does not require enormous pressure similar to that in the upper mantle, where diamonds form naturally, reports Sciencenews.org. Atmospheric pressure is enough for this. A lower temperature is not necessary either.
Despite the significant breakthrough, the crystals are still only 100 nanometers in diameter – about the size of a typical virus – but scientists believe they will be able to develop their methods enough to eventually create larger diamonds. The process of growing artificial diamonds is already very advanced. As DailyMail reports, in 2015, lab-grown diamonds accounted for less than one percent of global sales, but by the end of last year, this share had increased to about 20 percent.
