Diamond particles discovered in candlelight

[n2doc]

By Nick Collins, Science Correspondent7:30AM BST 18 Aug 2011

Researchers from the University of St Andrews discovered that about 1.5 million tiny diamond nanoparticles are created every second as a candle burns.

Evidence of diamonds was also discovered in tests on natural gas and wood flames, according to a study published in the Chemical Communications journal.

Prof Wuzong Zhou, who led the research, said that if a way of extracting the particles is discovered, it could lead to new methods of manufacturing diamonds.

The twinkling of candlelight has been compared with diamonds by philosophers and scientists including Michael Faraday.

Previous research had shown that hydrocarbon molecules at the bottom of candle flames are converted into carbon dioxide by the time they reach the top, but it was not known exactly what happens in between.

more
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8706666/Diamond-particles-discovered-in-candlelight.html

[indurancevile]

1. so we really are wearing diamonds on the soles of our shoes.

[nashville_brook]

3. nice!

[Riftaxe]

4. And other things, but then again

I just finished mowing the dog's lawn :P

[nenagh]

2. The comment section is worth reading as well..

For a change of pace from it all :-)

[struggle4progress]

5. Cute that he was able to detect any. Here's his home page:

https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/da/persons/wuzong-zhou%28cb018ac1-99c1-4eba-8236-cb223e4055a5%29.html

Quick estimates would suggest there's hardly any diamond there, though. The paraffin is maybe C25H52 with a density something like that of water; a brisk candle might burn 0.2 cc/min which translates to less than 0.001 mole/min; a 1 cc flame can't have more than about 0.00005 mole in it at any time, which means something around 10^19 molecules, of which a few million are purportedly diamond -- that is, something like 0.000 000 000 000 1 of the total molecules in the flame.

The Telegraph, of course, is full of it: this is not a plausible route to diamond production. There should be significant entropic and enthalpic reasons not to expect much diamond, and the kinetics probably don't favor formation either