By 
Many scientists have been trying to grow man made diamonds since the theory emerged. Nowadays, the production of synthetic stones is very popular, because it is the only way to satisfy the need for this mineral. It has been found in nature to be very imperfect, and its use in industry and electronics is unprofitable. But thanks to the work of the world’s great minds, a solution has been found in the face of laboratory crystals. They will be discussed.
Laboratory Crystals: False or Full Substitutes
To call Novita Diamonds, a copy is wrong. Rather, it is one and the same mineral produced in different ways. It is worth noting that the only difference between them is the way they appear. In one case, stones are born in nature, in another man shakes hands to create them. Artificial stone made in the laboratory acquires all the properties of “real” stone:
- Durability;
- Structure;
- Gloss;
- Refractive index;
- Density;
- Thermal conductivity;
However, there is one difference between artificial diamonds, the complete absence of defects. This makes them an ideal material for industrial and jewelry purposes. It is strange that only 20% of diamonds mined in nature can be used to make jewelry. The remaining stones have micro-cracks, inclusions and turbidity. When using high-quality technologies, it is difficult to distinguish between natural and artificial minerals, even with laboratory equipment.
Alternative names in science and ordinary people
In the scientific world, synthetic diamonds are called the technology associated with their production. There are HPHT diamonds, which means created under high pressure and temperature. And CDV diamonds represent chemical vapor deposition. However, artificial diamonds are not always a complete copy of it. Species such as cubic zirconia, moissanite, gemstone, ferroelectric, rutile, fabulite and cerussite are found. Zirconia is the most common “fake”, which has nothing to do with a real diamond.
Unconscious people call artificial diamond cubic zirconia, which is a big mistake. Of course, it perfectly imitates a diamond due to its strength and refraction. Some experts cannot distinguish it “with the eye” from the original stone. Therefore, they are widely used in jewelry.
A journey into the past
Let’s talk about how many years have passed since the hypothesis that synthetic diamonds can be obtained. They first started talking about it in 1797 and discovered that the stone was completely composed of carbon. However, they did not manage to implement this idea until 1926, but it cannot be called a complete success. The resulting sample was far from original, but became the starting point of the research.
It was not until 1941 that General Electric’s became interested in technology. Their plan was to heat the coal to 3,000 degrees under a pressure of 5 hPa. However, production had to be stopped due to World War II. It was possible to return to research after 10 years.
A high-quality artificial diamond suitable for mass production was obtained only in 1954. However, its size was so small that it could not be used in jewelry. Their business has expanded into industry. This problem could be solved in 1970, but even then the stones did not reach more than 1 carat.
Comments