Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but they are also very utilitarian and popular among construction and electronic industries.
Though you may not know much about how a diamond helps you out in your daily life, you should be surprised just how common these precious stones are.
Here Are a Few Things Diamonds are Used For:
Diamonds are used as jewelry pieces most commonly. However, drills are tipped with diamonds to cut hard materials better, and synthetic diamonds are used in electronic heat sinks because of their thermal conductivity.
1. Are Diamonds used in Computers and Electronics?
You might be surprised to find out that diamonds play a role in computers and electronics.
Not only are they very hard stones, but they also have incredible thermal conducting properties that allow them to stay strong when conducting heat. This is used in things like heat sinks.
Electronic heat sinks prevent electronic devices from overheating. Synthetic diamonds are much more popular in heat sinks than real ones.
This has led to the major development of lab-grown diamonds. Don’t be fooled, though. Synthetic diamonds are just like real ones, grown faster and under artificial conditions.
In 2017, scientists speculated that diamonds could be used in quantum computers, using their atom-scale defects to store data. This means that defects in diamonds could hold a lot of data without the risk of changing or losing that data.
While this is still very early in development, it is possible the diamonds could be used in future supercomputers.
2. Are Diamonds used in Lasers?
In 2009 it was reported that Australian researchers demonstrated the “Raman” laser, the first of its kind to use diamonds.
This laser was reported in 2013 to have uses in medicine, such as in the treatment of vascular lesions or retinal bleeding of blood vessels in the back of the eyes.
These lasers are supposedly supposed to be more precise and produce a wide range of colors. Diamonds are also considered to be better at thermal conductivity.
They can also be used in smaller spaces and on more delicate projects than some other crystal-based lasers.
3. Are Diamonds used for Cutting Glass?
Diamonds are considered a 10 on the Moh’s hardness scale. This is important because glass is considered a 7 on the scale.
Therefore, diamonds are capable of cutting through glass, as well as most other hard surfaces.
Diamond-tipped tools are used in many industries to cut hard surfaces with precision and without damaging the item. Glass is one of those surfaces.
You would most likely want diamond-tipped tools to cut glass as it is considered to have long life and durability to be used again and again in your projects. You can also get some yourself for DIY projects – if you know how to use them.
4. Are Diamonds used in Drilling Equipment?
It may surprise you to know that diamonds are actually more common in the drilling and construction industries than they are in almost any other field.
It is highly common for companies to use diamond-tipped drill bits in their projects. Drill bits with diamond tips are used in industries, like glass cutting, to sculpt and carve certain materials and surfaces.
You can even buy diamond-tipped drill bits for yourself from stores like Home Depot for less than $50. This is usually used for highly particular projects that involve cutting ceramic, glass, or porcelain in your home.
More widespread uses of diamond-tipped drill bits are for jewelers and watchmakers.
This allows them to drill with precision without accidentally overworking or destroying whatever small or delicate surface they are carving into. Many of those surfaces are glass, stone, ceramic, or porcelain. Large, industrial-grade diamond-tipped drill bits can also cut marble and granite surfaces.
However, diamond-tipped drill bits are not necessarily used for metals or concrete. Instead, a carbide-tipped drill bit should be implemented.
5. Are Diamonds used for Making Jewelry?
Diamonds are most popular for making jewelry and engagement rings in western culture.
Though most jewelry is not made of diamonds, it is one of the most popular stones.
Diamond-tipped drills and tools are also used to sculpt other diamonds. This is because only a diamond is strong enough to cut into another diamond without excessive force or high-grade tools.
For most jewelry retailers, diamonds are the most important inventory in their stock. As we’ve mentioned before in our article, Are Diamonds Considered Bad Or Good Luck?, diamonds represent wealth, as they are very expensive, and can give other people around you the impression that you are wealthy or have a partner who gives you expensive gifts.
This means that most engagement rings are going to be made from diamonds – as well as necklaces and other gifts. Fueling an expensive industry, the diamond is still a highly sought-after stone even if it isn’t as rare as you think.
However, many fake diamonds, cubic zirconium, and plastic are used in most superstore store designs. This makes jewelry more affordable but less special.
6. Where Else do we find Diamonds in Everyday Life?
While the jewelry and cutting industries are probably the highest consumers and sellers of diamonds, there are plenty of other uses for the stone in your everyday life.
Vehicles:
Just like in the construction and watchmaking industry, diamond-tipped tools are used to build cars. But that’s not all!
Diamonds can also be caused as a glass cutter for car windows.
Even more interesting, many modern vehicles with high-tech capabilities can have up to 1.5 carats of diamonds present within them.
This usually refers to the technology within the car and the diamond’s ability to become a semiconductor to prevent overheating.
Technology & Solar Energy:
As we mentioned before, diamonds are used to conduct heat for computers and other technology – whether that be through lasers or to be applied in heat sinks.
The use of diamonds has also been suggested for upgrading solar panels and solar energy technology. It is suspected that diamonds could be more useful than current designs and options out there.
Other Speculative Uses:
It is also possible that diamonds could be used to help purify water using their electromagnetic properties to allow for the oxidation of compounds in water.
Diamond particles have also been suggested as possible anti-counterfeiting technology to help authentication systems better identify real products or ID cards.
Final Thoughts
Though diamonds are generally thought to be only used in jewelry, it is not a surprise that they could be used for so much more.
Precious gemstones and rocks have been used by humans for centuries as adornments, medical cures, and to profess our love to one another.
Now, we want to incorporate them into our most complicated and intricate technology to make our lives easier.
Sources:
Diamonds are a laser scientist’s new best friend
Artificial diamonds and their numerous use cases in new technologies