Chinese Academy of Sciences "planted" diamonds: hardness and purity can be comparable to natural diamonds.

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According to the report of China Voice "News Horizon" of the Central Radio and Television General Station, there is an almost household slogan about diamonds: "Diamonds last forever, and one will last forever." Because diamonds are the hardest substance in nature, they are used to symbolize faithful love. Later, someone changed this slogan to "diamonds last forever, and one will go bankrupt", which reflected the high price of diamonds.

If someone told you that there is an artificial diamond now, its price is only one sixth of that of natural diamond, would you buy it?

Recently, a large number of "typical scientific research achievements" were published in the "Report on Science and Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, China Academy of Sciences". Among them, the technology of cultivating diamonds in the laboratory for one week has attracted much attention. In other words, "planting" the next "seed" can grow diamonds. Can diamonds really be planted? What is the difference between "planting" diamonds and natural diamonds? What is its business prospect?

Diamonds can be planted. Haven't you heard of it? However, the Key Laboratory of Marine New Materials and Applied Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences has turned this statement, which sounds like a fable, into reality. Li He, deputy director of the laboratory, is a member of the "Functional Carbon Materials" team that realizes "planting" diamonds. He told reporters that the process of cultivating diamonds is like growing food, which requires "seeds" and "nutrients". A small natural diamond is a "seed". He said: "First of all, there must be seeds of natural diamonds, and methane gas is also needed. Under the action of energy, methane forms carbon plasma. This plasma is slowly deposited on the diamond seed crystal in the air like dust, and it is deposited bit by bit. "

Carbon atoms split from methane gas are deposited on "seed diamonds" and "grow" at a speed of 0.007 mm per hour. In the laboratory environment, a diamond with the size of 1 carat can be "cultivated" in one week. Li He introduced that the chemical composition of "grown" diamonds is the same as that of natural diamonds, and its purity is higher than that of natural diamonds.

Li He said: "From a chemical point of view, there is no difference. They are all made of carbon. From the actual situation, natural diamonds are often mixed with a lot of other impurities when they are formed in nature, but the impurity content of artificially controlled diamonds is lower than that of natural diamonds, and the lattice modification may be better; The purity of synthetic diamonds can be higher, and natural diamonds are difficult to control. Find out what this diamond looks like and what it looks like. A synthetic diamond is basically a replica. We can control its quality and even control its color. "

The hardness and purity of synthetic diamonds are comparable to those of natural diamonds, but the price is only one sixth of that of natural diamonds. Li He said that after the success of diamond cultivation technology, natural diamonds can not even be used as "seeds" for future cultivation, and more artificial diamonds can be cultivated. This means that with the maturity of technology, the cost of synthetic diamonds will be lower. The original intention of cultivating diamonds is to be used in semiconductor research and optical and thermal applications.

Li He said: "We originally made this thing to study its application in semiconductors. In addition, it has good optical properties. We have studied its applications in optics, heat, electricity and semiconductors. There is also diamond, especially industrial diamond, which is a particularly good tool material in the processing field. Diamonds have been widely used in industry for a long time. For example, metal mobile phone cases are machined with diamond tools, including glass cutter. But it can only come from nature. Now, once the artificial output comes up, we can make diamonds very large and the processing efficiency is very high. So it has a great impact on this industry. "

"things are rare." The preciousness of diamond comes from its rarity in nature, and its high price also makes many consumers flinch. Although cultivating artificial diamonds is not the original intention of "Li He", it has aroused heated discussion as soon as it appears, and artificial diamonds may also be used in jewelry.

In fact, Eltra Diamond Production Company, headquartered in new york, has been devoted to researching related technologies, hoping to create synthetic diamonds that are highly similar to natural diamonds. Comparatively speaking, synthetic diamonds are more environmentally friendly, and the price is 30% to 40% cheaper than natural diamonds. Amish Khan, president of Eltra Diamond Production Company, said: "Our sales volume is increasing at the initial rate of eight times, and consumers like this product. It is estimated that within two years, the industry will become a multi-billion dollar industry. "

Morgan Stanley estimates that synthetic diamonds currently account for only 1% of the global diamond market, with sales between 75 million and 200 million dollars, and the market share may increase to 20% by 2020. Li He believes that in the future, synthetic diamonds can make all kinds of large diamond ornaments that cannot be made at present. "In the future, after making a bigger diamond, we can process it into various shapes and even carve it into a ring like jade. This is possible."

It is understood that some opinion polls show that 68% of the respondents do not think that synthetic diamonds are "real diamonds". But a study by luxury brand research company MVI Market Company shows that 70% of millennials said they would consider artificial diamond jewelry.

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