Modern Alchemy - A Company Makes Diamonds Out Of The Air
A Swiss luxury jewelry company has created diamonds made out of the air. It may seem like a fairy tale, but it is not...
A Swiss company succeeded in making diamonds from the air with the help of revolutionary new technology. Though produced from air, the diamonds are physically and chemically identical to those that are mined.
The company, named "Aether", is the world's first and only producer of such precious gemstones created by extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Making Diamonds Out Of Air
Aether is the Swiss company that "turned air pollution into gemstones" in the lab. The company's experts claim that in order to obtain a one-carat diamond, they extract 20 tons of carbon dioxide from the air. The company now plans to use $ 18 million in funding to increase diamond production.
"I became instantly fascinated when I heard about this new direct-capture technology developed by a company in Switzerland that strips harmful CO2 out of the atmosphere," Ryan Shearman told Forbes.
"I wondered if we could take all this abundant, harmful carbon that is warming the planet and turn it into a beautiful form of carbon that warms the heart — diamonds."
He added: "We are addressing the lab-grown market in a new way since there is some level of emissions and environmental impact from the fossil-fuel production used for lab-grown. It gets down to both mined- and lab-grown diamonds taking sides about which harms the environment less. Aether turns that paradigm on its head. We are benefiting the planet."
How Pollution Turns Into Precious Gems
The company uses a reactor to extract CO2 out of the air. Its innovative technology then follows the "synthesis of hydrocarbons", which means that the captured carbon dioxide is synthesized in the raw material needed for the production of diamonds, in a chemical vapor deposition reactor.
The next step is "diamond growth". The hydrocarbon raw material is fed into specialized chemical vapor deposition reactors that are powered by 100 percent clean energy. The diamonds resulting from this technology are later cut and polished, ready to become beautiful sought-after jewelry.
A Swiss company succeeded in making diamonds from the air with the help of revolutionary new technology. Though produced from air, the diamonds are physically and chemically identical to those that are mined.
The company, named "Aether", is the world's first and only producer of such precious gemstones created by extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Making Diamonds Out Of Air
Aether is the Swiss company that "turned air pollution into gemstones" in the lab. The company's experts claim that in order to obtain a one-carat diamond, they extract 20 tons of carbon dioxide from the air. The company now plans to use $ 18 million in funding to increase diamond production.
"I became instantly fascinated when I heard about this new direct-capture technology developed by a company in Switzerland that strips harmful CO2 out of the atmosphere," Ryan Shearman told Forbes.
"I wondered if we could take all this abundant, harmful carbon that is warming the planet and turn it into a beautiful form of carbon that warms the heart — diamonds."
He added: "We are addressing the lab-grown market in a new way since there is some level of emissions and environmental impact from the fossil-fuel production used for lab-grown. It gets down to both mined- and lab-grown diamonds taking sides about which harms the environment less. Aether turns that paradigm on its head. We are benefiting the planet."
How Pollution Turns Into Precious Gems
The company uses a reactor to extract CO2 out of the air. Its innovative technology then follows the "synthesis of hydrocarbons", which means that the captured carbon dioxide is synthesized in the raw material needed for the production of diamonds, in a chemical vapor deposition reactor.
The next step is "diamond growth". The hydrocarbon raw material is fed into specialized chemical vapor deposition reactors that are powered by 100 percent clean energy. The diamonds resulting from this technology are later cut and polished, ready to become beautiful sought-after jewelry.
