A diamond is made up of bonds of pure carbons, making it the hardest substance on Earth. They are also beautiful and shiny, which attracts many people, particularly women, making them very expensive jewelry. The only problem is, it takes billions of years before diamonds are made.
There is a lot of pressure, a heavy weight of overlying rock, and very high temperatures involved for diamonds to be made, which takes a lot of time. But recently, there have been reports that scientists from Australia were able to make instant diamond bling. They discovered some ways to make diamonds in just a few minutes.
Diamond Bling Made Within Minutes
Researchers at the Australian National University and RMIT have figured out how to carbon crystallize can turn into diamond inside a laboratory at room temperature, unlike in the natural setting where high temperatures are needed.
Jodie Bradby, one of the lead researchers, said that the process all boils down to how pressure is applied to the carbon crystallize, which is like a twisting or sliding force. Applying pressure would allow the carbon to experience something called shearing, 7News reported.
"We're not doing this in anything super amazing or explosive. We just squeeze the material together at extreme pressure. It all happens in minutes," Bradby said.
Previously at high temperatures, the Australian team has made lonsdaleite which is 58% harder than regular diamonds. Now, they are hoping that their breakthrough that defies the laws of nature would allow them to develop the ultra-hard diamond for industrial use like the ones being used in the mining industry.
Bradby added that any procedure conducted under room temperature is easier and cheaper to engineer compared to those that need several hundred or thousand degrees of temperature.
However, that does not mean that this room-temperature diamond is cheaper for engagement rings. But the researchers hope that using the lonsdaleite could help miners given that they could help them from having to change their drilling bits often.
Bradby noted that their technology perhaps bears some similarities with how Superman crushed the coal, turning it into a diamond without shooting heat rays from his eyes.
Read Also: Researchers Discover Novel Method for Creating Colloidal Diamonds
How Are Real Diamonds Made?
Carbon atoms make up diamonds that were subjected to extreme pressures and temperatures. Each carbon atom bonds with four other carbon atoms forming a very hard material, making the diamond the hardest substance on Earth. Besides, it undergoes a temperature of 2,000 to 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit for a diamond to be formed.
Most of the diamonds found in mines were brought to the surface by volcanic eruptions. According to experts, this happens so quickly with the diamonds traveling at 20 to 30 miles per hour. Any slower than that will turn the diamond into graphite. When they reached the surface, the diamond is contained within pipes known as Kimberlite so that they retain their shape and form.
Scientists are still unsure if how long it takes for a diamond to be formed. Although the scientists from Australia were able to mimic diamonds in just a few minutes, it is still hard to create the exact components of a real diamond.
Read More: It's Raining Diamonds in Neptune and Uranus, but How Is This Possible?
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