Korea C – Natural diamonds take billions of years to form under the pressure and extreme temperatures deep within the Earth, but a new and innovative method can produce synthetic diamonds within minutes.
The method relies on a mixture of liquid metals, as scientists succeeded in forming diamonds in 150 minutes, at a temperature of 1025 degrees Celsius and 1 atmosphere of pressure (standard atmospheric unit), equivalent to the pressure we feel at sea level (tens of thousands less). times the pressure normally required).
Scientists at the Basic Science Institute in South Korea said they were confident the process might be scaled up to make a big difference in the production of synthetic diamonds.
They explained that dissolving carbon into liquid metal to manufacture diamonds is not entirely new, as General Electric developed an important process half a century ago using molten iron sulfide.
But these processes still require pressures of 5 to 6 gigapascals, and a diamond “seed” for the carbon to cling to it.
The research team was able to reduce the pressure rate by using a mixture of liquid metals, including: gallium, iron, nickel, and silicon. He designed a system inside the shell of graphite (a form of carbon and diamond) to heat and cool the metal mixture very quickly while it was exposed to a mixture of methane and hydrogen.
This process helps carbon atoms diffuse from the methane into the molten metal, serving as diamond seeds. After only 15 minutes, small fragments of diamond crystals emerged from the liquid metal.
“Direct modifications might contribute to the production of diamonds over a very large area using a larger surface or interface,” the scientists said.
Research into this process is still in its early stages, but the authors of the new study believe it has a lot of potential, and other liquid metals can be combined to obtain similar materials.
If this new method fulfills its potential, diamond making will become much faster and easier.
The study was published in the journal Nature.
Source: ScienceAlert
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2024-04-27 03:55:38
