
How to make diamonds without diamond dust
- July 23, 2021
Diamonds are a precious commodity, with an annual production of around 1,000 tonnes.
But the sheer size of their production means that the diamonds they’re made from must be mined.
And for this reason, diamond dust is a common ingredient in diamonds.
But what’s the best way to remove the dust from diamonds?
And that’s what scientists are now working on, to develop a method of extracting diamond dust from a diamond without any need for diamond dust at all.
The idea is to develop an environmentally friendly method to remove diamond dust, which has been known to cause health issues in humans and is often toxic to the environment.
The researchers, led by Dr Peter Lidstrom from the University of Utah, are working on a new method for removing diamond dust by using lasers and a new material that’s been engineered to resist the ultraviolet light of diamond lasers.
This new material, called the ‘Diamond Dust Free’ (DDF) material, has been developed to be non-toxic, non-flammable and recyclable, and can be used in conjunction with diamond lasers to remove dust and other pollutants from diamonds, and to reduce their carbon footprint.
Dr Lidholm explained:”Diamond dust can be toxic in the short term.
It can cause cancer in the human body.
It may cause skin irritation, allergies and even damage to eyesight.
It’s also a major cause of global CO2 emissions.”
It’s also highly reactive to sunlight.
So when we use diamond lasers, we need to avoid exposing them to sunlight, because that can cause the diamond to lose some of its original colour and reflect it back.
“We’re now developing a new kind of material that is resistant to diamond laser light, which can be more easily extracted and removed from a material that has already been exposed to the sunlight.”
“This new, non toxic, environmentally friendly, recyclability and biodegradable material is being developed in collaboration with our research partner, the company Diamond Glass, and our collaborators at the University at Buffalo, the University College of New York, the Pennsylvania State University, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the University in Shanghai.”
“The Diamond Dust Free (DDf) material is a very thin film that has been engineered with a coating of diamond powder, which absorbs sunlight and provides a non-corrosive, biodegradeable and bioregradeable layer of diamond dust.”
“We are working with Diamond Glass to develop and commercialise this technology.”
Dr Liddstrom explained how the new material has been designed to be more environmentally friendly and biocompatible than traditional diamond powders, and that it can be produced at low cost, and in a way that does not compromise on the environmental quality of the material.
“Diamond powder is very expensive, and diamond dust in particular is not as readily recyclible as other materials, because of its high toxicity,” he explained.
“This diamond dust free material has a very low toxicity level, so you can make diamond dust-free in a very small space.”
The material is made of diamond powdering that is very durable, with a very strong, flexible and thin film, and it’s resistant to sunlight and is very biodegraded.””
Diamond Dust free material can be made from a single sheet of diamond, and has a high optical density.
It is biodegrades very well to the UV light of laser light.
The material also can be reused for many years without any environmental impact.
“The researchers say they are working to commercialise the technology, which they are calling Diamond Dust Cleaning.