Is it possible to make a diamond from stylus?

Greetings, our dear readers. People have always wanted to make the impossible possible. Including trying out techniques to learn how to make a diamond and grow it at home. This task is truly not easy and requires a thoughtful and painstaking approach to the process. In this article we will look at both very real ways to create crystals, and completely incredible ones (at least for doing it at home). Gold ring with diamonds

Is it possible to get a diamond from graphite?

Of course, natural diamonds are often valued much higher than those created artificially. At the same time, diamond miners receive considerable profits. However, in pursuit of their own curiosity and sometimes thirst for profit, many seek to find out whether it is possible to obtain this precious mineral artificially? These doubts are further fueled by the fact that the composition of graphite and diamond is almost identical. Silver bracelet And to some extent, those who doubt it are right – a diamond can indeed be obtained through some manipulations from simple graphite. This was proven back in 1955. But for such an event it was necessary to create a temperature of 1800 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 120 atmospheres. Is it possible to make this easier? Gold pendant

Experiments and results of scientists

A couple of years ago, scientists managed to cause carbon to heat up to almost 3800 degrees Celsius under a short-term laser pulse. After this procedure, the carbon cools quickly. As a result, American scientists managed to obtain the hardest form of carbon so far, called Q-carbon. That is, practically such a stone can be obtained at normal atmospheric pressure and room temperature (with a laser, of course). The most interesting thing is that, based on the results of such experiments, in North Carolina (which is where the tests were carried out) they came to the conclusion that this form of carbon exceeds diamond in strength. Crystal growing kit

But that’s not all – these days a real diamond can be made in literally a matter of minutes.

True, you will also need enormous static pressure and a temperature of about 2500 degrees. But such diamonds are (due to polycrystallinity) even harder than their natural counterparts. But all these methods, although good, require at least partial reproduction of natural conditions. The only thing that scientists managed to “knock off” was the time spent on creating the mineral. It is also sometimes possible to reduce the temperature and pressure, but this requires specialized equipment that costs a lot of money and is difficult for the average person to access. Diamond pendant So is it possible to grow a diamond yourself? Jewelry box

How to make a diamond: effective and not so effective ways

1. Pressure of more than 100 atmospheres.
2. Temperature is about 1600 degrees (or higher).
3. Hundreds of thousands of years (preferably longer).

Silver earrings with diamonds

It is now possible to create diamonds artificially in a few months. However, other conditions still have to be observed.

But crazy experimenters are not going to despair. Here’s what they offer:

• Using a magical combination of pipe, graphite and TNT, they propose to create a tightly sealed structure. The body should be a pipe into which the remaining components must be placed. After the resulting explosion, you need to find the remains of the experiment, and these should contain diamonds.

This experiment could cost you your life! Don’t put it into practice!

white gold ring with diamond

• The second option is much safer, but leaves doubts about the reality of getting a diamond, and not just a beautiful stone. To do this, take a high voltage source, as well as a wire, a pencil and liquid nitrogen (can be replaced with water). Separate the lead from the pencil and grip it tightly to the wire. The structure should then be frozen and then connected to a voltage source. It is claimed that immediately after passing such a discharge, the lead will turn into a diamond. This is highly doubtful, but as a very carefully conducted home experiment, it can be tried.

Thus, at the moment, creating a truly homemade method for creating diamonds is an almost impossible task. However, if you are interested in the process itself and would like to try yourself as an experimenter (perhaps together with the younger generation), then try the following method. It has been tested by time and many generations – the result is beautiful crystal structures, so similar to the beloved diamonds and other precious stones.

Home crystals

To create these “diamonds” you will need:

• distilled water,
• salt
• a thread,
• food coloring (optional).

Cross with stone

Add enough salt to the water until it stops dissolving. Take a string and place a salt crystal on it. Dip this mixture into the prepared solution and wait a few days. By the way, by adding food coloring you can get a wide variety of colors and shades of “pebbles”.

zodiac sign pendant with stone

You can do the same with sugar or copper sulfate.

But in addition to the listed ingredients, you may also need a variety of components, the stones from which are more beautiful and neat than from salt. To do this, you will need slightly less accessible ingredients, but you can now buy almost everything online.

In the first video we will grow purple crystals from potassium alum and potassium chromium alum. No salt compares:

Diamond bracelet

The second video shows the general principle of creating home crystals (using the same alum as an example):

gold ring

In general, creating beautiful pebbles for yourself is quite possible. And if you don’t set yourself the goal of getting rich, then this is the ideal way out. In addition, with such experiments it is possible to instill in children a love of chemistry from an early age, which can play a significant role in their lives.

Organizer for jewelry

We look forward to your visit more than once; in the future there will be a lot of news from the “stone” world. See you soon, dear friends!

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The question of how to make a diamond with your own hands, bypassing centuries-old natural processes, has crossed the minds of thousands of people. The first answer was found by a Soviet physicist, who initiated the process. There are ways to get stone at home.

The first artificial diamonds

Diamond cultivation has been carried out since 1953. Sweden was the first to establish the production of synthetic crystals. In the USSR, developments have been carried out since 1938 by the scientist Leypunsky, who made a major contribution to determining the necessary conditions to make an expensive gem from graphite.

The first Soviet laboratory stone was obtained in 1961.

Further, many countries (Belgium, USA, England, Japan, etc.) established the production of artificial diamonds. Other methods were used for this:

• deposition from a gaseous environment (acetylene, methane, i.e. hydrocarbons);
• detonation of explosives;
• high pressure, high temperature (HPHT);
• ultrasonic cavitation.

Is it possible to get diamond from graphite?

300 years ago, coal, graphite and diamond were completely different substances. In the 17th century, the first studies appeared confirming the relationship of dissimilar objects.

In England, Tennant, who studied chemistry, was able to do an experiment that revealed that they were all made of carbon. Indeed, outwardly there can be no talk of any similarity.

1. Dark gray, shiny, closer to pasty than solid, consisting of scales sliding over each other – this is graphite. Its hardness on the Mohs scale is 2 points, where talc is taken as 1. It is used as a lubricant between surfaces sliding over each other and in the manufacture of pencils. Conducts current.
2. Coal is black and may shine when broken. Completely opaque. Hardness from 2 to 5 points due to oxygen and nitrogen impurities that react with carbon, making the structure more dense.
3. Diamonds are the standard of hardness among stones, 10 out of 10. They are transparent and are used for cutting glass. They do not conduct current.

In the 20th century, many experiments were carried out with the help of which it was supposed to make a gem from graphite or coal.

In 1955, the experiment was crowned with success – under the influence of temperature and pressure, the layered crystal lattice of graphite was rebuilt into a tetrahedral diamond one.

Conditions for turning graphite into diamond:

• temperature 1800 °C;
• pressure of 120 thousand atmospheres.

Modern methods for synthesizing diamonds from graphite

Artificial diamond can be made from carbon-rich substances (soot, graphite, sugar coal, etc.) at high pressure (more than 50 thousand atmospheres) and temperatures above 1200 ° C with the addition of catalysts. Crystals grow in methane.

Produced synthetic stones differ in strength:

• ASO – normal strength;
• ASR – increased strength;
• ASV – high strength;
• ASK and ACC are monocrystalline diamonds.

It is possible to make a synthetic diamond from graphite by following the steps of a complex technological process.

1. First, the necessary conditions for crystal growth are created in a special chamber. Each diamond grows individually. One laboratory is capable of growing no more than 200–300 diamonds per year.
2. After growing, the stone is given color. The color of laboratory diamond is honey-yellow due to nitrogen. To obtain yellow, pink, green, red shades, post-growth thermobaric treatment (HPHT) technologies are used – additional annealing of the mineral at high temperatures and pressures.

Making your own diamond from graphite

There are 2 main ways to grow a fairly large diamond at home.

1 method

To quickly make a diamond from graphite with your own hands, you will need:

• power source, for example, a welding machine;
• pencil graphite;
• the wire;
• cold water or liquid nitrogen.

The essence of the process is this:

• graphite must be connected to a wire and placed in a container;
• the structure needs to be cooled strongly, this can be done with liquid nitrogen or by freezing in a freezer;
• After cooling, apply current to the wire.

After passing an electrical charge, graphite is transformed into diamond. Precautions must be taken when working with electrical appliances. If current passes, the capacitance may pose a hazard.

Video on the topic:

2 method

Real diamond can be made from graphite in a safer way. It requires:

• distilled water (40 ml);
• table salt (100 gr.);
• pencil lead (12 g);
• strong thread.

First you need to mix the dry ingredients, then pour in the distillate and leave for a day. Next, the resulting solution is poured into another container, preferably one with a narrow neck, but not poured out completely; it will come in handy later.

At the bottom of the container, crystals are found – the basis of the future stone. The largest one is tied to one end of the thread and lowered into the drained solution. The second end is tied to a toothpick, pencil or any wooden stick located on top of the dish with the solution.

When water evaporates, new components of the future stone will settle on the crystalline base. If there is a lot of solution, then you can make several points of gem growth at the same time. To obtain a large stone, the solution is prepared again. A new portion is added as the previous one evaporates.

To re-receive the liquid, you can dissolve the small crystals that have formed at the bottom of the container in warm water.

To make a mineral successfully, you must comply with the following conditions:

• there should be no temperature changes in the room;
• monitor the liquid level – the growing stone should not be exposed to air.

See how you can grow a crystal yourself in practice:

Is it possible to get diamond from coal?

It is quite possible to grow a diamond at home from coal. For this you will need:

• heat-resistant flask or glass for 2–3 liters;
• smaller flask;
• pestle and mortar;
• charcoal, store bought;
• seed in the form of a natural diamond crystal;
• paper filters.

A microscope is useful to monitor the process, but even without it the gem will grow. Growing stages:

1. Grinding charcoal in a mortar and pestle. Small pieces measuring 3–5 mm will do.
2. The resulting mass is poured into a heat-resistant container and filled with distilled water so that it is completely hidden. You cannot fill the container completely – the liquid will run away when heated.
3. The container is placed on very low heat. As it boils, water is added. This stage can take from several hours to several days.
4. The resulting yellow, carbon-rich solution is passed through paper filters, poured into a small test tube, and evaporated again. This is repeated 3-4 times. The color of the liquid becomes deep yellow.
5. After 2-3 days, a small test tube with the resulting solution is placed in a warm place. A small diamond crystal is lowered into it, on which the growth of carbon lattices begins. When evaporating, you need to add a new solution – the future diamond should not come into contact with air.

The process is very slow – 0,01 carats increase per year. Therefore, the larger the seed crystal, the faster the growth will occur.

Science does not stand still. The developed LifeGem technology makes it possible to obtain diamonds even from human remains by heating them and further pressing them.

In addition to the topic of the video, how the process of making a diamond from glass occurs:

Making a diamond with your own hands and without significant costs is real. The resulting stones can be used to create decor and interior decoration. The main thing you need when growing a gem is patience.

Want to make a diamond yourself? Do you have growing experience? Tell us in the comments. Share the information with your friends and acquaintances – they will be interested in it.