CHEMISTRY

Growing Diamonds In The Lab 💎

To date, most of the diamonds that we have excavated started their life in the Earth’s subsurface. This is where temperatures and pressures are high enough to force carbon atoms into a diamond’s tetrahedral structure. This structure is an allotrope of pure carbon. An allotrope is where materials are made of the same atoms, just arranged in a different structure.

Diamonds are utilised in a wide number of contexts. Jewellery, especially for milestone events such as proposals or weddings, is the most well-known example, on account of the beauty and rarity of diamonds. However, diamonds, due to their hardness, are also used to cut other materials, and their sharp, crystalline structure can further be utilised to exert extreme pressures.

Over the past few years, due to an increase in demand for diamonds, researchers have developed ways to produce diamonds in the lab. The most popular method to do this is via Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD). This is where a seed (a small sample of natural diamond) is placed into a sealed chamber with hydrogen and methane gases. When exposed to microwaves, the chemicals can react and deposit, layer by layer, on the surface of the seed.

💡 Things to consider

• Chemical enhancement: Growing diamonds in the lab allows for chemical manipulation to tune the physical properties of the resultant diamond. For example, the addition of boron atoms (a process known as doping) can improve the electrical conductivity. How might other properties, such as colour and hardness, be influenced by this doping?

  

  Not boring! BORON! That IS interesting!

• Social and environmental advantages: The societal impacts of lab-grown diamonds cannot be overlooked. Miners of natural diamonds are often exploited, working for a low wage in dangerous conditions. Efforts have been made to alleviate this issue, but problems still exist. Lab-grown diamonds can eliminate this ethical concern. Environmentally, lab-grown diamonds emit only a few grams of carbon per carat grown, compared to the equivalent 57 kg for a mined diamond. What other environmental and social benefits might there be to growing diamonds in the lab? Are there any negatives?

  

  Something seems to have gone wrong in this lab…

• Rarity: Diamonds are sought after due to their rarity. If diamonds are grown in the lab, on a mass-scale, does this diminish their beauty and appeal? What might this mean for other gemstones and rare goods?

🔎 Find out more

• The sparkling rise of the lab grown diamond - BBC Future

• BBC News - Diamonds: Does the Kimberley Process work?

• The diamond synthesisers | Feature | Chemistry World

🍒 The cherry on top

• 🕷️ Who Does Spider-Man Vote For?: Ever imagined your favourite superhero as a political ally? This article explores how people tend to project their own political views onto fictional heroes and villains like Spider-Man and the Joker. Great if you’re interested in Psychology, Politics, or Media Studies!

• 🖋️ The Painter of Thought: Why do we keep turning to Montaigne, and are we reading him all wrong? This article explores how the French essayist has been misread as a self-help guru, when his work is really a rich, sceptical meditation on the self, doubt, and thought itself. Great if you’re interested in Philosophy or Literature!

• ⏱️ Redefining Time: Think your watch is accurate? This short New Scientist video explains how optical clocks, far more precise than current atomic clocks, are reshaping our understanding of time and physics. Great if you’re interested in Physics or Engineering!

👀 Keep your eyes peeled for…

• 8th April

  • Murray Edwards College Cambridge Medicine Webinar

• 9th April

  • University of Buckingham Humanities Webinar

  • University of Sheffield Psychology Taster Session

• 10th April

  • University of Sheffield Bioscience Taster Session

• 14th April

  • Clare College Cambridge Biology Webinar

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