Novel process for manufacturing Higher performance And LOwer cost synthetic industrial diamond (HALO)

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Industrial machining processes such as cutting, grinding, polishing, drilling, and wire-drawing require mechanically robust diamonds for durable, productive and precise machining. Industrial diamond performance is gauged by diamond wear distance. Wear distance is a measure of the amount of material a diamond component can process effectively before wearing out. Diamond wear distance is dependent on diamond properties such as hardness, fracture toughness and (friction) heat resistance and the machining process conditions.The US$13.38B global industrial diamond stone market is mainly addressed by widely available synthetic single crystal and polycrystalline diamonds. The mechanical properties of these two synthetic diamond types differ significantly, with each type having its own specific performance attributes and limitations.Sumitomo Corp. in Japan have developed a new, synthetic polycrystalline diamond material with exceptional mechanical properties, which addresses the limitations of commercial industrial diamonds. However, this state-of-the-art diamond material is not commercially available, since it cannot be manufactured in commercial volumes using conventional production methods.In this project, we will further develop our innovative, patent-pending diamond process cell and diamond synthesis process for commercial scale volume production of this state-of-the-art synthetic polycrystalline diamond. Once we establish our new production process, we will conduct performance assessments with real tool end-users.Our disruptive approach uses thermal expansion to achieve the required ultra-high process pressures. This enables us to produce 6x the amount of diamond per process cell, compared to conventional production methods. Furthermore, owing to the compact nature of our process cell (approximately 200x smaller than conventional equipment), we can thermally process 10 individual process cells in parallel boosting our production volumes to full commercial scale.The advantages of this new, state-of-the-art, synthetic polycrystalline diamond material are well known and much sought after in the global industrial diamond market. Our unique production approach will unlock its commercial availability. Successful delivery of this project will ensure we are first to market with this superior, UK manufactured, industrial diamond product. Following production scale up, we will distribute our new product via our global diamond distributors E.I.D. Ltd.