2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
Diamonds have attracted mankind since ancient times. The extraordinary beauty of these stones has led to their use to create various jewelry. However, later people discovered other useful properties of diamonds - their unique strength and hardness. To meet the needs of production, nature did not create much of this material, so people had the idea to produce diamonds artificially.
Diamond value
Diamond is considered a unique stone with a rare combination of important characteristics: strong dispersion, high thermal conductivity, hardness, optical transparency, wear resistance. Due to their physical and mechanical properties, diamonds are highly valued not only by jewelry experts, but are also widely used in various industries. So, this gem is used in medicine, optics and microelectronics.
But to fully meet the production needs of cleannatural diamonds are very difficult and quite expensive. For this reason, mankind began to think about how to make an artificial diamond. The synthetic stone had to not only have the important properties of a real diamond, but also have a more perfect crystal structure, which is very important for high-tech fields.
How synthetic diamonds came about
The need to create a synthetic stone arose a very long time ago. But in practice it was carried out only in the 20th century. Until that time, scientists could not come up with a technology for making diamonds, although they were able to establish that they are relatives with ordinary carbon. And after a few decades, the first synthetic diamond was created, which was obtained from graphite under the influence of high temperature and pressure by means of a phase transition. It was from this moment that the production of artificial diamonds began, which today are used in many elements of various equipment and tools.
Diamond Production Technologies
In our time, several technologies are used to obtain synthetic stone, each of which has its own characteristics. The most reliable, but most expensive technology is to produce a diamond from crystalline carbon, which is placed in a special press for processing. First, water is supplied to the material to be processed by powerful pumps. This creates high pressure. The water then freezes under the action of the refrigerant, causing the pressure to increase up to 10 times. On theAt the last stage, the chamber, in which the carbon is located, is connected to the electric tires and a powerful current is supplied for a few fractions of a second. Under the simultaneous influence of temperature and pressure, graphite is transformed into a hard stone. After this phase, the press is defrosted, the liquid is drained and the finished artificial diamond is taken out.
Growing diamond with methane
They also use a simpler technology for the production of synthetic stone - the explosion method, which allows you to grow an artificial crystal under the influence of methane. Very often, the production of artificial diamonds occurs according to two technologies. The fact is that in the first case it is possible to obtain the highest percentage yield of diamonds, but they will be very small. The second technology allows you to significantly increase the resulting synthetic stone by blowing with methane under the influence of a temperature of about 1100 ºС. The explosion method makes it possible to obtain an artificial diamond of any size.
Types of artificial diamonds
Nowadays, many varieties of synthetic diamonds are produced: cubic zirconia, moissanite, rhinestone, ferroelectric, rutile, fabulite, cerussite. The most perfect fake diamond is cubic zirconia, or cubic zirconia. It is zirconia. Therefore, many have repeatedly heard the name of artificial diamond zircon. Although it has nothing to do with natural expensive stone.
Zionite is characterized by high hardness, high degree of dispersion and refraction. Thanks to theirproperties, this stone perfectly imitates a real diamond and is widely used in the jewelry industry. Even experts with the naked eye can hardly distinguish the fake from the original, since they play the same way.
Moissanite is considered the highest quality analogue of diamond. It has the same physical properties as natural stone, and in terms of optical performance it is even better. Its only drawback is that it is inferior in hardness.
Rhinestones made of lead glass, consisting of lead oxide, are especially popular. Due to their composition, these stones play amazingly in the light and have a brilliance identical to that of diamonds.
Where synthetic diamonds are used
Artificial diamond is widely used by jewelry factories to make luxurious jewelry that not only looks beautiful, but is also very affordable. Fake stones look just as good and wear well.
Also, the cultivation of artificial diamonds is an integral part of modern industry. On their basis, heavy-duty tools are produced: grinding wheels, diamond saws, polishing discs, chisels, drills, scalpels, knives, various cutters and tweezers. Techniques and equipment made of diamond material allow processing the most durable alloys and raw materials. In addition, diamond provides maximum precision in machines and instruments.
How to create an artificial diamond at home
Some experts say that it is possible to grow a synthetic diamond at home. But the independent production of artificial diamonds will require a lot of effort and time. We will tell you how to grow a mineral from s alt that looks vaguely reminiscent of a diamond.
So, to create such a stone, you will need boiled water, table s alt, chemical glassware, a clean sheet of paper and a laboratory filter. First you need to prepare a small crystal. To do this, fill a beaker 1/5 part with s alt, half-fill with warm water and mix. If it dissolves, then you need to add a little more. S alt must be added until it ceases to dissolve. Then filter the solution into another bowl, in which the stone will grow, and cover with paper. The level of the solution must be monitored at all times. The stone must not be in the air. If the solution has evaporated, you need to prepare a new one and add it.
People who have done such experiments claim that within a week a home artificial diamond should grow noticeably.
The cost of an artificial diamond
In the modern world, synthetic stones have occupied a separate segment of the jewelry market. Obtaining artificial diamonds is constantly being improved. Scientists invent new stones that instantly gain mass popularity, while older ones lose demand and gradually disappear from the market. For example, in the middle of the 20th century, artificial rutile was inserted into jewelry to imitate diamonds. Then itreplaced with cubic zirconia. And in the 90s. all previous imitations of the diamond were replaced by moissanite.
Prices for an artificial diamond depend on the size, cut and production technology. Many people mistakenly believe that synthetic stones are ordinary glass and do not see any value in them. But in fact, such diamonds are often worth a lot of money, and some of them are quite rare. So, other varieties of artificial diamond can cost more than natural counterparts.
Among synthetic diamonds, cubic zirconias of different colors are considered the most popular. Their average cost per carat in cut form ranges from 1 to 5 US dollars. And the well-known diamond analogue of moissanite is much more expensive - 70-150 US dollars per carat.
A significant factor in the formation of prices for stones is color. So, the cost of a yellow diamond is 40–50 dollars for 0.2 carats, but for an orange-pink stone, depending on the size, you will have to pay about 3,000 dollars.
World leaders
In recent years, China, Japan, the USA and Russia have been considered the world leaders in the production of synthetic stones. China is the most actively developing this direction, constantly inventing new synthesis technologies.
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