In 2009, the news of the production of a beautiful champagne-colored diamond from Pelé's hair strands made headlines across the country. He presented this piece to his mother. She then, in a very generous gesture, donated the jewel to a hospital that takes care of needy children in Paraná.
This was the first time that this feat was performed in our country and, from then on, other news of the type emerged.
But is it really possible to produce a real diamond from a person's hair? And is this economically viable?
Well, the answer to the first question is: Yes, it is possible. To understand how this process takes place, let's first look at the makeup of the diamond and hair.
Natural diamond is one of the allotropic forms of carbon, which can also have its atoms rearranged to form graphite, its other most common allotropic form. In the image below, we see a very large number of carbon atoms, with each carbon atom being linked to another four carbon atoms and giving rise to a macromolecule with a tetrahedral structure:
Natural diamond is formed in the innermost layers of the Earth, where the magma is subjected to very high pressure, as it lasts for a long time. time more layers of lava deposited on top of it, and also at very high temperatures, as they are usually associated with chimneys. volcanic. The magma is then transformed into durable and valuable diamonds that are expelled into the earth's crust thanks to natural geological movements.
Scientists are currently modifying the structure of graphite to produce synthetic diamonds that are widely used, for example, in drill bits. The graphite structure is shown below:
Thus, technically it is possible to produce the diamond from any substance with a lot of carbon, such as the hair of a dog, tire rubber, bird feathers, the umbilical cord of a baby, the ashes of a deceased, finally, even the lawn of Vila Belmiro, the stadium of Santos, was used for the production of some pieces in 2010 in order to honor the team that won the World Cup. Brazil.
However, the most suitable is the hair, as it is rich in keratin, being the part of our body richest in carbon concentration.
The process of transforming hair into diamond follows the steps below and is called HPHT (from English High Pressure, High Temperature, which means "High pressure, high temperature"):
Diamond made from hair has the same chemical, physical and optical characteristics as a natural diamond.
The customer can choose the size and format as well. For now, it varies from 0.2 to 0.7 carats the maximum guaranteed, and the format can be of the "princess" or "shiny" type, shown below:
In Brazil, there is only one company that performs this process, it is the Infinite Brightness. The person cuts their hair themselves and they record the entire process so that the person can be sure the diamond was made from their own hair.
Now comes the second question: So can we run out and have a bunch of diamonds made and then sell them and get rich?
Do not. Because the value to make a diamond is practically equal to or greater than its market value. To cite an example, one of the diamonds manufactured by them, which was 0.3 carats, the size of a bean seed, was valued at R$ 5 thousand reais. But the simplest model, 0.20 carats and champagne color, costs from R$4.5 thousand.
Therefore, the objective of having a diamond made from the strands of hair is more for the sentimental value of wanting to perpetuate special people and moments.
By Jennifer Fogaça
Graduated in Chemistry
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/quimica/como-transformar-cabelo-diamante.htm
