Nathan Cheung

Synthesis of Diamond and its Impact on the Society Diamond, an allotrope of carbon, is known to be an incredibly strong material, scoring 10 in the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. It usually forms in the earths mantle, with temperature of 900-1300C and 45-60 kilobars of pressure. Naturally occurring diamonds could be found in kimberlite and Lamproite, which is basically cooled down magma. With such extreme conditions, diamonds are extremely rare and are therefore incredibly expensive. It should be noted that diamond are basically carbon, with atoms arranged in a tetrahedral structure, which contributes to its strength. Due to its structure, it is also a great electrical insulator (non-metal) and has a exceptionally high melting point (giant covalent), thus making it a very useful material in the various industries. Instead of solely relying on mining, people are able to produced man-made diamond known as synthetic diamonds with other forms of carbon. Synthetic diamonds are usually not gem-stone quality, and are used for industrial purposes. Instead of focusing on the use of these synthetic diamonds, this essay will focus on the synthesis process. The High pressure high temperature (HPHT) method creates synthetic diamonds by mimicking the natural conditions in the Earths mantle, with pressure as high as 60000 atmosphere and temperature up to 2500C. There are different variations of the technique, one of the first developed is known as the belt press. In the belt press method, the diamond seed crystal and a high purity carbon source is placed into the synthesis capsule in the press. With two anvils applying pressure, and a graphite heater heating up the internal part, the carbon source will dissolve and be transported to the seeds where it precipitates.

Nathan Cheung

The other variation of the HPHT method is the cube press method. Instead two anvils, six anvils are present and are applying pressure to the cube-shaped synthesis capsule. However, the cube press method may not be efficient when scaled up, since it would take much more force to apply the same amount of pressure to larger volumes. Currently, the most economical press is the BARS apparatus (or the split sphere apparatus). The BARS apparatus design differs greatly from the others. Instead of a cubic synthesis capsule, the capsule is cylindrical and is heated with a graphite heater. A cubic shaped material that wraps around the capsule and transmits pressure from the inner anvils. The outer shell is pressed by eight steel outer anvils. The whole structure rests inside a round barrel, with oil inside, separating the inner structure from the walls of the barrel, which will pressurize when heated. Other than the HPHT method, the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) method is also a good choice depending on the situation. In the CVD method, a carbon based gas is heated to a high temperature, which the bonds break and separates the carbon. The carbon is then dropped on a diamond substrate, and would grow as a crystal on top of it. This makes the method preferable to the HPHT method when thinner layers of diamonds are required. There are different methods other than the two listed above, but they were not as popular and developed. The synthesis technology is very beneficial to the society, as it opens up possibility of using diamond for industrial purposes. Yes, natural diamond could have done the same thing, but they are extremely rare and expensive, mining 5g of diamonds would often require mining 1,000,000g of minerals. There are also no guarantee of finding diamond, which also poses as a problem. Using synthetic diamonds are much more efficient as the supply is more stable and they would have a much cheaper price tag.

Nathan Cheung

One of the major advantages synthetic diamonds have over natural diamonds is that controlling its properties is much easier. For example, diamonds are usually a good electrical insulator, but there are industries that demands diamond semi-conductors. By controlling the impurities and adding boron, synthetic diamonds will become semiconductors. The technology grants us to use the useful yet rare diamond in different industries. Due to its hardness, diamond can be used as blades, cutting various strong materials such as stone and concrete. As mentioned above, diamonds are excellent electrical insulator, so it would be useful in the electronics industry. Diamonds can also serve as a structural material, used to make diamond windows and anvils cells. The technology still have room to be developed as large sized and high quality diamond still cannot be produced at a cheap price. But if this is achieved, it might lower the price of diamond gems, thus affecting the jewelry business as diamonds can longer be priced so high. However, the development of the technology has a downside, as there are merchants who intentionally misguide consumers into purchasing synthetic diamond with the price of a natural gem-stone quality diamond. Although it is able to distinguish synthetic diamonds with natural diamonds, the general population do not have the knowledge and would end up purchasing a lot more than they should. To conclude, diamond is an exceptionally useful material in various industry, but were too expensive until the development of synthesis technology. The technology opens a lot of possibility as it provides cheap synthetic diamonds for industrial purposes. However, this technology is not perfect, as producing gem-quality diamonds is still expensive and complicated. But therere no denial that the technology have made a huge impact on the world.

Nathan Cheung

References Chemical vapor deposition of diamond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_vapor_deposition_of_diamond Creating a Diamond, Starting with Carbon - D.NEA Synthetic Diamonds. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2011, from http://d.neadiamonds.com/creating-man-made-diamonds Diamond Scams-Unethical Diamond Tactics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2011, from http://www.asia-gems.com/diamonds/diamond-scams.php Diamonds. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2011, from http://nature.berkeley.edu/classes/eps2//wisc/Lect6.html High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT). (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2011, from http://www.manmadediamondinfo.com/hpht.shtml hpht - high pressure high temperature - International Diamond Laboratories diamond grading. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2011, from http://www.diamondlab.org/80hpht_synthesis.htm Material properties of diamond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material_properties_of_diamond More About Diamonds: Synthetic Diamonds. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2011, from http://gia4cs.gia.edu/cm/learn-about-diamonds/synthetic-diamonds.htm ScienceDirect - Diamond and Related Materials: High pressurehigh temperature growth of diamond crystals using split sphere apparatus. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2011, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925963505003791

Nathan Cheung

Synthetic diamond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_diamond The Difference Between Real and Synthetic Diamonds. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2011, from http://www.abazias.com/diamondblog/diamond-education/thedifference-between-real-and-synthetic-diamonds