Inverse Conversion of CO_2 into Diamond: Implications for the Origin of Natural Diamond

摘要

In prehistoric times carbon was known in the form of soot and charcoal. Ever since Antoine Lavoisier in 1792 and Smithson Tenet in 1797 demonstrated that diamond and graphite are allotropic forms of carbon~1, people have been interested in converting the relatively abundant carbon materials into much rarer diamond. It is found that diamond burnt in oxygen yields exactly the same amount of carbon dioxide as that produced by burning the same weight of carbon, proving diamond consists of pure carbon.