7 ms·

So if synthetic diamonds are coming down in price, what other uses are there for them? They seem to be quite good at conducting heat. Could we use them in oth

So if synthetic diamonds are coming down in price, what other uses are there for them? They seem to be quite good at conducting heat. Could we use them in other areas where we are currently using other less expensive but less efficient alternatives? Diamond thermal paste is already a thing, right?

corndoge 10y ago
Yes, if you want to grind a hole right through your die.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
sliverstorm 10y ago
There's sapphire watch faces for hardness, and sapphire substrate for semiconductors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_on_sapphire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_on_sapphire)
- TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
  I'm expecting genuine diamond iPhone and Watch "glass" within a few years.
  - SkyMarshal 10y ago
    That would actually be amazing, imagine the PR power Apple could put behind "perfectly manufactured, conflict-free diamond screens", "better and more flawless than any natural diamond, only the absolute best for our customers". They could even create the equivalent of a "perfect pixel" guarantee - "perfect lattice" guarantee, the diamond screen is flawless down to the atom or your money back. That could flip the script on DeBeers in a big way.
    - toufka 10y ago
      Well, Apple tried for the iPhone, and I do believe the watch actually does have a synthetic sapphire screen.. Apple purchased a major stake in a sapphire-making business [1]. But it seems that it still was a bit on the tricky side compared with the recent upgrades in glass technology. [1] https://www.technologyreview.com/s/532636/why-apple-failed-to-make-sapphire-iphones/ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/532636/why-apple-failed-t...
      - kevin_thibedeau 10y ago
        Being Apple they really should be marketing it as transparent aluminum. Just saying.
  - swswsw 10y ago
    How brittle is diamond? We know diamond is the hardest, but how brittle is it? It is good to have a non-scratching phone screen, but not if it is really brittle.
    - ghaff 10y ago
      The short answer is that diamond is fairly brittle. It has four cleavage planes and I assume this is related to the fact that diamond can be cut in such ornate ways. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that a diamond screen would be worse than what exists today but it wouldn't be something invulnerable and resistant to any impact either.
  - Nullabillity 10y ago
    I have no idea what the Nexus 5X screen is made from, but it finally seems to have solved scratches entirely for me.
    - DiabloD3 10y ago
      Third generation Gorilla Glass. The predecessor to your phone, my Nexus 5, also contains Gorilla Glass 3, and yeah, I don't use a case, I don't use a screen protector, and there are no real scratches on the screen, and it has rode around in my pocket for over 2 years.
toomanybeersies 10y ago
Yep, I remember years ago Inventgeek made diamond heatsink paste [0], nowadays you don't even need to make it yourself, they have commercial stuff as well [1]. [0]: http://www.inventgeek.com/diamond-grease/ http://www.inventgeek.com/diamond-grease/ [1]: https://www.amazon.com/IC-Diamond-24-Carat-Compound/dp/B0042IBAOG https://www.amazon.com/IC-Diamond-24-Carat-Compound/dp/B0042...
- danieltillett 10y ago
  Do you have any idea if this makes my real difference?
Turing_Machine 10y ago
They're already using CVD diamond coatings on the edges of high-end surgical instruments. Expect to see them on disposable razor blades within a few years (which is probably going to disrupt that market as well..).
- nom 10y ago
  Can you expand on this? The cost of material for any coating is always very low, so I assume you are referring to some kind of technological advancement that makes coating easier/cheaper?
  - Turing_Machine 10y ago
    "The cost of material for any coating is always very low" Well...not, historically, for diamond. :-) That's changing. Not being an expert in this field, I would guess that the barriers would lie primarily in tooling up the process to handle kilometers of material at a go, rather than making one-off surgical cornea scalpels. Now I'm wondering just how many kilometers of razor blades are produced annually. Many, I'm sure.
- vanderZwan 10y ago
  > disposable razor blades Now there's another industry that only survives by the grace of marketing and people not bothering to buy a cheaper double-edge alternative.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    Disposable razor blades are not a significant cost in most people's lives and most of those same people see a big advantage in convenience. There's obviously a lot of marketing in the razor/blade game but a lot of it is aimed at getting you to buy from one company rather than an other. As well as to buy more a more expensive class of product which may or may not be better--yes. But very few people have to be sold on buying a disposable razor.
    - 10y ago
analog31 10y ago
Diamond is a useful optical material. Pretty much any material that can transmit a desirable wavelength range (e.g., IR for diamond), can be worked into a desired shape, and isn't evil in some way (e.g., toxic), has a use in optics. Unfortunately, a few hundred or thousand custom diamonds per year isn't enough for anybody to invest in making them cheap.
dreamcompiler 10y ago
Diamond (the material) has lots of uses. As Neal Stephenson points out in "The Diamond Age," if you can make diamond cheaply, you can make large thin-shelled dirigibles out of it that become lighter than air when you evacuate a little air out of them. Diamond is the only material strong enough to make this possible.
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  Unfortunately, not even diamond is strong enough. Vacuum-lift airships (at least on Earth) will remain a dream.
  - A1kmm 10y ago
    According to this article (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225376850_Compressive_Strength_of_Diamond_From_First-Principles_Calculation https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225376850_Compressi...), the compressive strength of a perfect diamond is, from the weakest direction, -223.1 GPa. The difference in pressure between atmospheric pressure and a vacuum averages 101 kPa at sea level. Natural diamonds are not perfect, and manufacturing a large perfect diamond is probably very difficult, but I don't think it can be ruled out as impossible.
    - dredmorbius 10y ago
      The problem is that those perpendicular stresses need to be distributed within the shell structure itself. Locally, they're converted to parallel stresses. There's the additional problem of buckling, which has its own dynamics. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_airship https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_airship
    - aaron695 10y ago
      I'd imaging you use a lattice like structure. Even perhaps at the atomic level....
- beeforpork 10y ago
  If you can make whatever out of diamond, I want cooking ware. You can watch the stuff cook, it's insanely heat conductive, and very resistent to scratches, so no problem using a sharp pointed fork to stir a bit. Problem 1: induction cooker. so use gas. Problem 2: the pots may ignire if overheated... I'd definitely give it a try.

corndoge 10y ago

Yes, if you want to grind a hole right through your die.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

sliverstorm 10y ago

There's sapphire watch faces for hardness, and sapphire substrate for semiconductors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_on_sapphire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_on_sapphire)

TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
I'm expecting genuine diamond iPhone and Watch "glass" within a few years.
- SkyMarshal 10y ago
  That would actually be amazing, imagine the PR power Apple could put behind "perfectly manufactured, conflict-free diamond screens", "better and more flawless than any natural diamond, only the absolute best for our customers". They could even create the equivalent of a "perfect pixel" guarantee - "perfect lattice" guarantee, the diamond screen is flawless down to the atom or your money back. That could flip the script on DeBeers in a big way.
  - toufka 10y ago
    Well, Apple tried for the iPhone, and I do believe the watch actually does have a synthetic sapphire screen.. Apple purchased a major stake in a sapphire-making business [1]. But it seems that it still was a bit on the tricky side compared with the recent upgrades in glass technology. [1] https://www.technologyreview.com/s/532636/why-apple-failed-to-make-sapphire-iphones/ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/532636/why-apple-failed-t...
    - kevin_thibedeau 10y ago
      Being Apple they really should be marketing it as transparent aluminum. Just saying.
- swswsw 10y ago
  How brittle is diamond? We know diamond is the hardest, but how brittle is it? It is good to have a non-scratching phone screen, but not if it is really brittle.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    The short answer is that diamond is fairly brittle. It has four cleavage planes and I assume this is related to the fact that diamond can be cut in such ornate ways. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that a diamond screen would be worse than what exists today but it wouldn't be something invulnerable and resistant to any impact either.
- Nullabillity 10y ago
  I have no idea what the Nexus 5X screen is made from, but it finally seems to have solved scratches entirely for me.
  - DiabloD3 10y ago
    Third generation Gorilla Glass. The predecessor to your phone, my Nexus 5, also contains Gorilla Glass 3, and yeah, I don't use a case, I don't use a screen protector, and there are no real scratches on the screen, and it has rode around in my pocket for over 2 years.

toomanybeersies 10y ago

Yep, I remember years ago Inventgeek made diamond heatsink paste [0], nowadays you don't even need to make it yourself, they have commercial stuff as well [1]. [0]: http://www.inventgeek.com/diamond-grease/ http://www.inventgeek.com/diamond-grease/ [1]: https://www.amazon.com/IC-Diamond-24-Carat-Compound/dp/B0042IBAOG https://www.amazon.com/IC-Diamond-24-Carat-Compound/dp/B0042...

danieltillett 10y ago
Do you have any idea if this makes my real difference?

Turing_Machine 10y ago

They're already using CVD diamond coatings on the edges of high-end surgical instruments. Expect to see them on disposable razor blades within a few years (which is probably going to disrupt that market as well..).

nom 10y ago
Can you expand on this? The cost of material for any coating is always very low, so I assume you are referring to some kind of technological advancement that makes coating easier/cheaper?
- Turing_Machine 10y ago
  "The cost of material for any coating is always very low" Well...not, historically, for diamond. :-) That's changing. Not being an expert in this field, I would guess that the barriers would lie primarily in tooling up the process to handle kilometers of material at a go, rather than making one-off surgical cornea scalpels. Now I'm wondering just how many kilometers of razor blades are produced annually. Many, I'm sure.
vanderZwan 10y ago
> disposable razor blades Now there's another industry that only survives by the grace of marketing and people not bothering to buy a cheaper double-edge alternative.
- ghaff 10y ago
  Disposable razor blades are not a significant cost in most people's lives and most of those same people see a big advantage in convenience. There's obviously a lot of marketing in the razor/blade game but a lot of it is aimed at getting you to buy from one company rather than an other. As well as to buy more a more expensive class of product which may or may not be better--yes. But very few people have to be sold on buying a disposable razor.
  - 10y ago

analog31 10y ago

Diamond is a useful optical material. Pretty much any material that can transmit a desirable wavelength range (e.g., IR for diamond), can be worked into a desired shape, and isn't evil in some way (e.g., toxic), has a use in optics. Unfortunately, a few hundred or thousand custom diamonds per year isn't enough for anybody to invest in making them cheap.

dreamcompiler 10y ago

Diamond (the material) has lots of uses. As Neal Stephenson points out in "The Diamond Age," if you can make diamond cheaply, you can make large thin-shelled dirigibles out of it that become lighter than air when you evacuate a little air out of them. Diamond is the only material strong enough to make this possible.

dredmorbius 10y ago
Unfortunately, not even diamond is strong enough. Vacuum-lift airships (at least on Earth) will remain a dream.
- A1kmm 10y ago
  According to this article (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225376850_Compressive_Strength_of_Diamond_From_First-Principles_Calculation https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225376850_Compressi...), the compressive strength of a perfect diamond is, from the weakest direction, -223.1 GPa. The difference in pressure between atmospheric pressure and a vacuum averages 101 kPa at sea level. Natural diamonds are not perfect, and manufacturing a large perfect diamond is probably very difficult, but I don't think it can be ruled out as impossible.
  - dredmorbius 10y ago
    The problem is that those perpendicular stresses need to be distributed within the shell structure itself. Locally, they're converted to parallel stresses. There's the additional problem of buckling, which has its own dynamics. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_airship https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_airship
  - aaron695 10y ago
    I'd imaging you use a lattice like structure. Even perhaps at the atomic level....
beeforpork 10y ago
If you can make whatever out of diamond, I want cooking ware. You can watch the stuff cook, it's insanely heat conductive, and very resistent to scratches, so no problem using a sharp pointed fork to stir a bit. Problem 1: induction cooker. so use gas. Problem 2: the pots may ignire if overheated... I'd definitely give it a try.