DIRECT PROCESS

MAKES
DIAMONDS
FROM GRAPHITE
Now GE does it without catalysts,
uses heat and static pressure
. .
PYROPHYLLITE.
MOO, TH02,
GRAPHITE OR AL,O1
END DISK
GRAPHITE
CYLINDER
$1 shows design of belt
vice which i s placed i n hydraulic
press. Conical pistons (ten and
right) push intochamber(center).
Graphite, from which diamond
forms, i s ploced i n aperture ot
center of chamber. A typical
cylindrical sample for use i n the
belt anmaratus i s shown i n
I
24 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
eneral Electric Research Laboratory is converting
G carbon from its ordinary graphite form directly into
industrial diamonds in a nonexplosive technique which
uses no catalyst. Pressures and temperatures are about
three times greater than those required for the original
diamond-making process, where a metal catalyst helped
achieve the transition of carbon atoms from graphite
to diamond crystal structure. The process has impor-
tant implications for diamond-making technology, but
perhaps most significant is the achievement of rear-
ranging carbon crystal structure by pressure and
temperature alone, a feat many scientists doubted would
ever be accomplished. This success is a big step forward
in understanding the atomic forces at work in crystalline
materials.
Diamond-Making Process
General Electric tint announced its synthetic diamonds
in 1955, made and sold them commerciallyin 1957, and
revealed some process details in 1959 when a Govern-
ment secrecy order was lifted. That process used a
metal catalyst, pressures from 800,000 to 1,800,000 p.s.i.,
and temperatures from 2200 to 4400 F. The com-
bination of catalyst, pressure, and temperature has
since provided a substantial and growing share of the
nations industrial diamond supply.
Now, as a result of new techniques developed by Dr.
Francis P. Bundy, it is possible to attain pressures and
temperatures so high that the metal catalyst is no longer
needed. The new process uses an improved ultra-
high pressure apparatus in a large hydraulic press.
The apparatus is a modification of the GE belt
design developed by H. T. Hall, arranged for greater
flank support of its piston elements and higher com-
pression of the sample. This apparatus can achieve
simultaneously temperatures above 5000 K. (9000O F.)
and pressures up to 200 kiloban (2.9 million p.s.i.)-
equivalent to pressures believed to exist 350 miles be-
neath the earths surface.
Although refractory materials are used to surround
the graphite specimens, temperatures reached are so
high that transient heating is used to minimize melting
or chemical reactions of the wall materials. Graphite
specimens are heated by discharging a large electrolytic
capacitor through the sample. Electrical connections
are made through the pistons. I n carrying out the
process, the sample is inserted in the pressure apparatus,
pressure in the chamber is raised to the desired value
by forcing the pistons together with the hydraulic
press, and the sample is flash-heated by the capacitor
discharge. Afterward, the pressure is lowered, and the
sample can be removed for examination.
New Carbon Knowladoe
The diamond process apparatus is also the key
to new understanding of carbon crystal structure,
as well as the structure of many other materials.
I n the course of his studies, Dr. Bundy located
the triple point for equilibrium between diamond,
graphite, and liquid carbon, and determined the melting
point of graphite all the way from the graphite-liquid-
vapor triple point to the diamond-graphite-liquid triple
point (I&EC, November 1962, p. 5). Many other im-
portant observations regarding the crystalline behavior
of carbon will be published in the J ournal of Chcmical
Physics.
Dr. Bundy admits that discovery of the direct
transition from graphite to diamond came as something
of a surprise, because there had been so many previous
unsuccessful attempts. At least one theory had been
put forward saying that this direct transition might
never occur. Now there is no doubt that it can, and
many substances other than carbon are being put into
the new pressure chamber.
-J. H. OLIN, ASSISTANT EDITOR
DIAMOND
. ~
Presswe-l mpmatwc phase diagram pewi t s best concept of carbon
cpuilibrio, bared on Dr. Bundys work and on preuiotrr c x p wi n at r
by o r b s . Solid 111 at upper left of diagrnm isproposed by Dr. Bundy
as a metallic s t d c , 75 to 20% more dmsc than diamond
VOL 5 5 NO. 1 J A N U A R Y 1 9 6 3 25