Boom, Bang, Bling! Explosive Conversion Of CO₂ Into Diamond

Burlington, ON, Canada Many specialists said that making diamond from carbon dioxide (CO₂) was impossible, but EnviroDiamond Technologies Inc. (ETI) has succeeded. Daren Swanson, B.Sc., president of ETI, is having a blast reviewing recent lab results. After banging away for three years, he has proven that CO₂ can indeed be detonated to produce microscopic diamond dust.

Dubbed 'Cold Detonation Physics' or CDP, the technology consists of mixing dry ice, which is frozen CO₂, with other ingredients to make an explosive. This chilly -78.5 O C mixture is packed into a very thick steel pipe and then detonated. Boom, bang, bling! The result - diamond.

Five explosive tests conducted recently in Beijing, China, are sending shock waves throughout the technical community. Byproduct analysis from Queen's University clearly shows that ETI's technology produces very small diamond from CO₂ referred to as nanodiamond.

Fine diamond material is used industry wide for applications ranging from coating tools and drill-bits to polishing and delivering chemotherapy drugs into the body. Diamond from CO₂ may prove to be the least expensive way to make synthetic diamond dust and certainly the most environmentally friendly.

CO₂ can now be used to make diamond and an explosive with potential use in mining that could actually save lives. The explosive's low temperature of detonation is ideal for mines hampered with the risk of methane or coal dust explosions, which kill miners every year around the globe.

The next step is to develop both the mining and diamond facets of CDP with strategic partners in summer/fall of 2011. With an extra heavy gauge pipe dream, Daren is building a booming company from his home office in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

SOURCE: EnviroDiamond Technologies Inc.