CARBON MAGIC

BY DAVID LINCOLN
AUG 2018
HARDEST & SOFTEST MINERAL KNOWN

GRAPHITE DIAMOND
Hardness Hardness
1.0 10.0
NATURAL DIAMOND

highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material

DIAMOND COLOR

 . Small amounts of defects or

impurities (about one per million of
lattice atoms) color diamond
 blue (boron),
 yellow (nitrogen),
 brown (lattice defects),
 green (radiation exposure),
 purple, pink, orange or red.

 Diamond also has relatively

high optical dispersion (ability to
disperse light of different colors).
DIAMOND ORIGINS
 Most natural diamonds have ages between 1 billion and
3.5 billion years.
 Most were formed at depths of 150 to 250 kilometers (93
to 155 mi) in the Earth's mantle,
 Under high pressure and temperature, carbon-
containing fluids dissolved minerals and replaced them
with diamonds.

 Much more recently (tens to hundreds of million years

ago), they were carried to the surface in volcanic
eruptions and deposited in igneous rocks known
as kimberlites and lamproites
DIAMOND ASSOCIATED ROCKS

 Kimberlites can be found in narrow (1–4 meters) dikes

and sills, and in pipes with diameters that range from
about 75 meters to 1.5 kilometers.
 They are a mixture of xenocrysts and xenoliths(CO2
enriched minerals and rocks carried up from the lower
crust and mantle), pieces of surface rock, altered
minerals such as serpentine, and new minerals that
crystallized during the eruption.
 EXPLORATION

 Kimberlite pipes can be difficult to find. They

weather quickly (within a few years after
exposure) and tend to have lower
topographic relief than surrounding rock.
 In modern searches, geophysical
methods such as aeromagnetic
surveys, electrical resistivity and gravimetry,
help identify promising regions to explore.
US LOCATIONS

 In the U.S., diamonds have been found

in Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming,
and Montana.
 In 2004, the discovery of a microscopic diamond in the
U.S. led to the January 2008 bulk-sampling of kimberlite
pipes in a remote part of Montana.
 The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas is open to
the public, and is the only mine in the world where
members of the public can dig for diamonds.
DIAMOND DISCOVERY

 Diamonds are thought to have been first recognized and

mined in India,
 alluvial deposits of the stone could be found many
centuries ago along the main rivers.

 Diamonds have been known in India for at least 3,000

years, but most likely 6,000 years.
HISTORY
 Diamond extraction from primary deposits (kimberlites
and lamproites) started in the 1870s after the discovery
of the Diamond Fields in South Africa.
 Production has increased over time and now an
accumulated total of 4,500,000,000 carats (900,000 kg)
have been mined since that date.[104]
 Twenty percent of that amount has been mined in the
last five years, and during the last 10 years,
 nine new mines have started production; four more are
waiting to be opened soon. Most of these mines are
located in Canada, Zimbabwe, Angola, and one in
Russia
MINING

 Approximately 130,000,000 carats (26,000 kg) of

diamonds are mined annually, with a total value of
nearly US$9 billion, and about 100,000 kg (220,000 lb) are
synthesized annually.[98]
 Roughly 49% of diamonds originate
from Central and Southern Africa, although significant
sources of the mineral have been discovered
in Canada, India, Russia, Brazil, and Australia
 METEORITE IMPACTS
 When meteorites strike the ground, the shock wave can
produce high enough temperatures and pressures
for microdiamonds and nanodiamonds to form.

 Russia may have the world's largest diamond deposit,

estimated at trillions of carats, and formed by an asteroid
impact
CARBON HAS HIGHEST MELTING
POINT OF ALL ELEMENTS
 The MELTING/SUBLIMATION tEMPERATURE OF CARBON IS 8721 DEG F
CARBON ABUNDANCE
 15th most abundant element in the Earth's crust,
 4th most abundant element in the universe
 2nd most abundant element in the human body
CARBON IN DNA
BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE
CARBON IN DNA HELIX

DNA. The famous double-helix molecule is made possible by carbon’s ability

to form long molecular chains. Carbon is the common element of all known life
BUCKMINSTER FULLER
GEODESIC DOMES

The Montreal Biosphère by Buckminster Fuller, 1967

BUCKYBALLS

Buckminsterfullerene is a type
of fullerene with the formula C60.

a cage-like fused-ring structure

(that resembles a soccer ball
(football),

twenty hexagons and

twelve pentagons, with
a carbon atom at each vertex
 DISCOVERY
 It was first generated in 1985
 by Harold Kroto, James R. Heath, Sean
O'Brien, Robert Curl, and Richard
Smalley at Rice University
 Awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry for their roles in the discovery
of buckminsterfullerene and the related
class of molecules, the fullerenes
 It can be found in small quantities in soot.
 The molecule has been detected in deep
space.
SPACE BUCKYBALLS

NASA’s Infrared Space

Telescope Spitzer has identified
buckminsterfullerene (buckyballs) equal in
mass to 15 of our moons in the Small
Magellanic Cloud dwarf galaxy. Image by
SYNTHESIS

 Characteristic purple color of pure C60

 Compound is stable,withstanding high temperatures and high
pressures
 C60 solid is as soft as graphite, but when compressed to less
than 70% of its volume it transforms into a superhard form of
diamond
 C60 converts from a semiconductor into a conductor or even
superconductor alkali metals are doped into the voids,
 Could become a vehicle for "high density, room temperature,
ambient pressure storage of hydrogen“ for fuel cell.
Buckyballs as Art
 Leo Villareal poses with his
sculpture "Buckyball" on
Crystal Bridges' grounds
BUCKYBALLS AS MEDICINE

 C Sixy is developing fullerene-based

drugs for the treatment of AIDS, Parkinson’s
disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease,
osteoporosis, and cancer.
 Buckyballs could inhibit the AIDS virus, and
they could block the active site in a key
enzyme in the human immunodeficiency
virus known as HIV-1 protease; buckyballs
could inhibit the reproduction of the HIV
virus in immune cells.
 BUCKYBALL CAGES
 Metal atoms or certain small
molecules such as H2 and noble gas
can be encapsulated inside the C60
cage
 Could someday be a miniature
delivery system which could target a
type of cell or disease which could
drelease an anticancer package
where it is needed most
 Atoms of extraterrestrial noble gases
helium-3 and argon-36 have been
found trapped within buckyballs on
Earth. The buckyballs arrived in
comets or asteroids
BUCKYBALL MEDICINE
 Could someday be
a miniature
delivery system
 could target a type
of cell or disease
 release an anti-
cancer package
where it is needed
most.
Buckybombs: An Explosive New
Approach To Cancer Treatment
 Combining Buckyballs with Nitrous
Oxide (Laughing Gas) causes
buckyballs to disintegrate violently
 This chemical reaction provides a
controlled explosion and a blast of
intense heat.
 If this reaction were to occur inside a
cancer cell, researchers say the
process could kill the cancer while
leaving surrounding tissue intact.
 CARBON NANOTUBES [CNTs]

CNTs are long, cylindrical

structures composed
entirely of carbon atoms.

They have a mesh

pattern like chicken wire
wound into a cylinder with
half a buckyball as a cap
on the end.
STRENGTH OF CARBON NANOTUBES

Nasa: Carbon nanotubes have outstanding tensile strength –

two orders of magnitude higher than graphite fibers, kevlar or
steel.
CARBON NANOSTRUCTURES
CNT PROPERTIES

 These cylindrical carbon molecules have unusual

properties, which are valuable for nanotechnology,
electronics, optics and other fields of materials science
and technology.
 exceptional strength and stiffness
 extraordinary thermal conductivity, mechanical, and
electrical properties.
CNT APPLICATIONS

 carbon nanotubes find applications as additives to

various structural materials.
 For instance, nanotubes form a tiny portion of the
material(s) in some (primarily carbon fiber)
 baseball bats,
 golf clubs,
 car parts
 or damascus steel
PRICE
 With new manufacturing processes constantly being
updated, was the cost of single walled nanotubes
continues to fall as the quality, quantity and speed of
delivery continues to rise.
 Recently the cost of single walled nanotubes was below
$ 10 per gram for more than 1 kilogram of greater than
85% quality.
 Single-walled nanotubes are likely candidates for
miniaturizing electronics. The most basic building block
of these systems is the electric wire, and SWNTs with
diameters of an order of a nanometer can be excellent
conductors
 SWNTs are forecast to make a large impact in
electronics applications by 2020!
SPACE ELEVATOR
Would consist of a cable with one end attached
to the surface near the equator and the other
end in space beyond geostationary orbit
(35,786 km altitude).

The competing forces of gravity, would result in

the cable being held up, under tension, and
stationary over a single position on Earth.

With the tether deployed, climbers could

repeatedly climb the tether to space by
mechanical means, releasing their cargo to
orbit.

Climbers could also descend the tether to

return cargo to the surface from orbit
FUEL CELL HYBRID

A graphene surface hosts an indium tin

oxide nanoparticle, which helps secure
two platinum nanoparticles (blue) for
improved catalysis in a fuel cell. Image
 An Earth-based space elevator would consist of a cable
with one end attached to the surface near the equator
and the other end in space beyond geostationary orbit
(35,786 km altitude).
 The competing forces of gravity, which is stronger at the
lower end, and the outward/upward centrifugal force,
which is stronger at the upper end, would result in the
cable being held up, under tension, and stationary over
a single position on Earth.
 With the tether deployed, climbers could repeatedly
climb the tether to space by mechanical means,
releasing their cargo to orbit.
CNTs in CANCER TREATMENT
 CNTs have the potential to act as drug-carrier systems
and sensors for the diagnosis and treatment at the
cellular level.
 A project called CARBIO had a breakthrough when
using carbon nanotubes to transport and release the
anti-cancer drugs carboplatin and doxorubicin, which
are used in chemotherapy for many different types of
cancer.
 Carbon nanotubes allow for the drugs to be safely
transferred to specific locations in the human body.
 The CARBIO project has ended, but it has been a
stepping stone for other research and many other
experiments.