This article was taken from the March 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
It's hard, clear, chemically inert, frictionless and an excellent conductor of heat. And it's made of one of the most common elements: carbon. Diamond -- just carbon crystal, really -- is exceedingly useful in fields from microelectronics to water treatment. Unfortunately, large diamonds are also rare. But imagine if the stuff was as ubiquitous as steel.
Stephen Bates, a 64-year-old scientist who has worked for Nasa, Princeton and General Motors, could make that happen. After immersing himself in research on the synthesis of crystals in thin films via a process called vapour deposition, Bates patented a method for doing the same thing for diamonds. The concept is simple: pack diamond grit, an inexpensive industrial product, into a mould with vapourised C60 fullerene -- a rugby-ball-shaped cage of 60 carbon atoms -- then blast it with a laser beam. The fullerene breaks apart and carbon condenses between the diamond particles, effectively fusing them into a relatively solid mass.
And if it works? Imagine diamond foundations beneath your home, diamond girders in skyscrapers, diamond bones and diamond parts for aircraft.
For more Big Ideas, check out the following stories:
Big Idea #1: Turn deserts into power plants
Big Idea #2: Make aeroplanes economical and rechargeable
Big Idea #3: Builds skyscrapers out of diamonds
Big Idea #4: Fuel Earth using micromachines
Big Idea #5: Put digital displays on contact lenses
Big Idea #6: Declare war on incoming asteroids
Big Idea #7: Spray Wi-Fi hotspots on to everything
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
