How to Make Diamonds With Hydraulic Press

Hydraulic presses are machines designed to use force to crush or compress materials, often in industrial settings like manufacturing and recycling.

Diamonds are widely acknowledged to be among the hardest substances on Earth. This video explores how a hydraulic press could potentially shatter one.

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)

If you're a YouTube subscriber, chances are you've seen videos from Hydraulic Press Channel crushing things. In past videos we saw them crushing Lego toys and golf balls, while recently they crushed an expensive diamond created in a lab which took significant force to break apart.

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is an impressive manufacturing technology used for making coatings, powders and monolithic components. Additionally, CVD can also be found in electronics manufacturing and metallurgy - its flexibility and speed have become popular options among businesses alike. But what exactly is CVD?

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is a method for producing thin films using heated gaseous precursors; unlike physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), which uses solid particles suspended in an enclosed vacuum environment.

CVD starts with a pure carbon substrate such as graphite or silicon wafers, which are heated until they turn into gas and absorb other elements from the environment to initiate a chemical reaction that forms diamond.

At present, there are two primary methods for creating synthetic diamonds. HPHT recreates the high pressure and temperature conditions found deep within Earth's mantle while CVD offers multiple advantages over HPHT: faster processing speeds and producing more consistent products compared to HPHT as well as being scalable enough for mass production.

CVD processes typically use direct liquid injection, where liquid precursors are introduced directly into a heated chamber to be vaporized; an automobile's fuel injection system is an example of this form. Another variation involves plasma-based CVD, in which an electrically charged gas initiates reactions instead of heat; Gleason has been conducting extensive polymer-based CVD research, leading to her book CVD Polymers that documents this work and potentially yielding a range of materials which would be difficult or impossible to create through other means. Gleason believes CVD may lead to useful materials which would otherwise be hard or impossible to manufacture using conventional means alone.

High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT)

Diamonds may be one of the hardest substances on Earth, but that doesn't make them immune from being crushed. YouTube channel Hydraulic Press Channel has become famous for their crushing videos featuring everything from bowling balls and non-Newtonian fluid to nature's toughest material: a 1.2 carat diamond.

The video begins with a large diamond, roughly equivalent to that of an adult male, being shot at high-speed and low light. Next, a hydraulic press with over 8000 pounds per square inch force descends on it causing it to shatter into millions of tiny pieces as it descends upon it.

To create synthetic diamonds, a graphite-based seed is placed into a growth chamber and carbon-rich gases fed through it at extremely high temperatures are heated until their carbon particles liquefy into raindrops that land on it to form crystal growth. This process mimics chemical vapor deposition but allows gem-quality diamonds to form.

CVD may be more efficient at creating larger diamonds due to its faster growth cycle and use of less catalysts, thus reducing environmental hazards and costs. This method is most frequently employed for producing industrial grade and synthetic colored diamonds.

There are various diamond synthesis processes available, and their ability to produce high-grade gems varies considerably. Unfortunately, many of these techniques require artificial seeds and cannot fully replicate the conditions under which natural diamonds form.

The two most widely-used methods for producing diamonds are Belt Press and HPHT, both relying on high pressure and temperature for growth. While both utilize split sphere designs, HPHT uses an outer set of parts made from steel with 8 anvils that fold open into an octahedron-shaped cavity where diamonds grow; an inner smaller set composed of 6 graphite anvils create a smaller reaction cell to allow multiple diamonds to grow simultaneously in one reaction cell - producing both smaller and larger diamonds simultaneously. This configuration allows multiple diamonds to grow within one reaction cell as multiple reactions occur simultaneously, producing both smaller as well as larger diamonds.

Split-Sphere Press (BARS)

As we all know, diamonds are among the hardest substances on earth, capable of cutting through steel like butter and scratching iPhone screens like nothing else - yet they remain fragile enough to break under sudden forces such as being hit with a hammer or crushed in a hydraulic press. Therefore, it is wise to store your diamonds away from any sources of pressure that could cause them to be damaged or broken.

There are ways of creating diamonds without resorting to harsh conditions necessary for natural creation, and scientists have devised techniques for producing laboratory grown diamonds that resemble those mined from nature. In this video, one such lab grown diamond is pitted against a 10,000 psi hydraulic press to see how well it holds up under pressure from this powerful tool for crushing things.

Though many believe a diamond cannot be broken, excessive pressure can actually shatter it into dust. This is due to a diamond's hardness not coming from its strength alone but from its structure instead; its hardness being determined by its crystaline structure.

These lab grown diamonds, worth an estimated value of around $4,000 each, were generously donated by some wealthy patron. Unfortunately, their value wasn't enough to withstand the power of this hydraulic press, and we witnessed their disintegration within seconds of being crushed under its force.

BARS (Binary Amorphous Carbon Reaction System) process for laboratory grown diamonds is widely recognized for producing gem-quality lab created diamonds. Each cycle, the BARS machine creates one diamond crystal using both inner and outer anvils to apply hydraulic pressure and create one diamond crystal per cycle using pressure from inner anvils on outer anvils to apply hydraulic pressure; its temperature and pressure parameters must remain precisely under control during growth as deviation from these specific parameters could lead to either stopping growth altogether, or becoming heavy inclusion and unusable diamond.

Cubic Press

Diamond synthesis involves applying extreme pressure and temperature to carbon-containing materials like graphite. This causes its carbon atoms to rearrange into diamond crystal structures that resemble natural gems. While still evolving, this technique has produced lab-grown diamonds comparable to natural gems.

For creating synthetic diamonds, hydraulic presses are typically used. One such press, known as the split-sphere press or BARS apparatus, is particularly popular; this tool can reach high temperatures and pressures of 10 GPa, making it one of the best tools available to create large-sized diamonds.

This hydraulic press system features two anvils made of tungsten carbide that are fitted into a cylindrical pressure cell. Each anvil fits together seamlessly into a pyramid shape. Each inner anvil is surrounded by six pistons that each feature an anvil surface. Each anvil is connected to its own hydraulic pump which creates high-pressure conditions in and around each anvil; enough pressure to split diamond-forming carbon crystals apart, with each half becoming part of a pyramid-shaped diamond structure.

During this process, anvils are heated to temperatures that closely approximate those found deep within Earth's crust, enabling the diamonds to grow quickly while at the same time providing sufficient pressure. Unfortunately, too high or too low temperatures or pressure may cause crystals to burn or disintegrate quickly due to improper pressure levels; therefore, its application must be carefully managed for best results. In order to create diamonds from carbon efficiently.

After lab-grown diamonds have been produced, their final step of being cut and polished marks them out as distinct from natural diamonds.

No one wants their 1.2 carat diamond crushed under a hydraulic press, yet YouTube viewers love to tune in and witness this event unfold. One video features a diamond being crushed under an immense hydraulic press in slow-mo replay which may leave viewers dumbfounded at just how resilient diamonds really are. This is truly one way of understanding their toughness!