What Is Diamond Used For

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Other Than Jewellery, What Are Diamonds Used For?

Diamond engagement rings are and then ingrained in our culture of romance that information technology has become well-nigh instinctual to associate diamonds only with their use in jewellery. So much so that information technology tin can exist easy to forget that diamond is a natural mineral with a unique set of properties, and it's always existence used in new means to improve our world. At that place are a range of surprising ways that diamond is used in manufacture, each one taking advantage of the properties that brand diamond such a popular material.

What are the properties of diamond?

Diamonds are formed by geological processes. The heat involved in these processes deep underneath the world'southward surface results in the formation of rigid crystal structures that gives diamond some unique qualities.

Hardness

Diamond is the hardest known textile known to man, topping off both the Vickers and the Mohs scales of substance hardness. Information technology's 58 times harder than the adjacent hardest mineral, corundum. This ways that diamond is highly resistant to concrete damage such as scratching but, because of its brittleness and planes of cleavage, they're susceptible to breakages from direct edgeless force.

Thermal Conductivity

Diamond besides has the highest thermal conductivity of whatsoever known material when heated above ~100k, conducting rut 5 times better than copper. This is a result of the strong covalent bonds between atoms in the diamond molecular structure.

Thermal Resistance

Along with thermal conductivity comes thermal resistance, and diamonds tin be heated upwards to 700°C before oxidising in air. Without oxygen present, diamond can be heated up to around 1700°C before blackening, an effect which can be recovered with polishing.

Electrical Insulator

Although it's a thermal conductor, diamond is an electric insulator. This means that it tin be used in electric transistors. The exceptions to this are blue diamonds, which are really electrical conductors because of their higher boron content.

Corrosion Resistant

Diamond is naturally chemically inert, meaning that information technology doesn't react with acids or alkalis and then won't corrode when brought into contact with them.

Pressure Resistance

Diamonds are also pressure resistant up to 600 gigapascals, the equivalent of 600 atmospheres. It'south because of all of these properties that diamonds are and then ordinarily used for industrial purposes, just they're also beginning to be used in medical technology, audio equipment, and fifty-fifty dazzler products.

What are diamonds used for?

Medical Applied science

Diamonds are being used in medical technology in two main ways. The get-go application they have is for cancer screening technology. Tiny synthetic fluorescent nanodiamonds can help detect early phase cancer through a technique called hyperpolarisation, where the atoms inside of the diamond are aligned to make information technology detectable past MRI scans. When these diamonds are fastened to molecules that are targeting the cancer, they tin can reveal its location. Nanodiamonds tin also be used to deliver drugs into the torso as they can penetrate prison cell walls without causing harm, a apply which has been applied in chemotherapy treatments.

Audio Equipment

Because of their hardness and tight molecular construction, diamonds are also existence used in audio equipment. Diamond domes are used in extremely high-grade speakers as 'tweeters', the chemical element of the speaker that delivers the highest frequencies. This is because the material is difficult and light enough to move the air around it without warping due to the force per unit area. Diamonds are likewise commonly used in high-end tape players every bit the tip of the stylus, or needle. This is again mainly down to their hardness and durability, every bit they're longer-lasting than other needle tips and tin can be made much smaller to more accurately 'read' the information on the record.

Industrial Uses

Considering of diamond's world-leading concrete properties, they have plenty of industrial use cases. 1 of the nearly widespread of these is their apply in drill bits and saw blades to raise cutting power and immovability. This employ extends to jewellery cutting itself, as diamonds can exist used to cut any other material due to their extreme hardness. They tin can also be used as heat sinks due to their great thermal conductivity. In fact, one of the first applications for synthetic diamonds was as a rut sink for telecommunications components. Considering they can conduct heat away from sensitive electrical components and then effectively, they can foreclose them from beingness damaged. If this comprehensive guide to the uses of diamonds has interested yous, don't hesitate to become in touch with us.