Found a way to turn fossils into diamonds

Scientists at Stanford University have a way to turn fossil materials into pure diamonds.

Diamond is a very valuable and special material. Humans have always studied the composition of diamonds and have come up with many ways to make these beautiful stones themselves.

Making diamonds is not only a favorite for jewelers but also for other fields. Scientists at Stanford University, USA have successfully created a new type of artificial diamond starting with crude oil and natural gas molecules.

Typically, natural diamonds are formed hundreds of miles below the surface of the earth. Very high temperatures and pressures cause carbon molecules to crystallize and produce valuable diamond stones. They are then shot to the ground through volcanic eruptions.

Scientists have spent decades seeking to transform different compounds into synthetic diamonds in order to produce more widely and profitably. However, this self-created diamond process requires a huge amount of energy as well as appropriate catalysts.

According to New Atlas, Stanford University specializing in Earth, energy and environment has found a way to make diamonds simpler.

"We want to make a neat process. Of which, only one material can be turned into fine diamonds - no catalysts are needed , " said Sulgiye Park, who led the research.

Yu Lin, an artist with a simulated oil-powder molecule, is about to be turned into a diamond.(Photo: New Atlas).

To create a new synthetic diamond, the scientists started with a powder refined from crude oil. They discovered that the atomic samples in the crude oil had a structure similar to the atoms that form the diamond crystals.

Unlike conventional diamonds, the crude oil powder in addition to carbon also includes hydrogen molecules. The team then put the material into "Diamond anvil cell" - a device that creates extremely high pressure to make hard materials.

These materials are heated by laser. Scientists have discovered that they can turn into a pure diamond with very little energy consumption. Under a temperature of about 627 degrees Celsius and pressure much greater than the Earth's atmospheric environment, the hydrogen atoms of the crude oil quickly disappear from the mixture, turning the oil powder into diamonds.

Artificial diamonds are fabricated under high-temperature lasers.(Photo: New Atlas).

This process only takes a moment. The researchers also noted that the technique they created could only produce a small amount of diamonds.

"The true value of the research process lies in the knowledge of how diamond is formed and manufactured. We can create diamonds more quickly and easily," said a university research team representative. Stanford shares.

According to Stanford University, the achievement of creating these synthetic diamonds can affect fields outside the jewelry industry. Hardness, transparency, chemical stability, thermal conductivity and other unique properties of diamonds can make them useful in medicine, biosensors to quantum computing.

• Learn about diamonds and how to identify real diamonds
• Diamonds naturally formed like?
• Admire the most expensive diamonds on the planet