From New Atlas, November 27:
Industrial pipes carrying water or chemicals invariably get gunked up as deposits accumulate on their internal surfaces. That slows flow, and slowly damages the equipment, leading to the need for periodic maintenance and higher operational costs.
There are many ways to tackle this, including water softeners, chemical-based scale inhibitors that aim to prevent mineral buildup, and using specialized pipe materials and pipe lining. But they all come with one drawback or another. Now, researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas, have hit upon a more effective solution to resisting scale formation: coatings made with lab-grown diamonds.
The material scientists note their chosen coating material can stay clean without regular intervention. Their work builds on previous studies which found that diamond, besides being incredibly hard and chemically stable, can also stave off bacterial growth.
To evaluate this, the team first grew diamond films through a process called microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition, or MPCVD, which you can see demonstrated in the video clip below. MPCVD is the most common method for making synthetic diamonds....
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Also at New Atlas, it's pricey but bringing a pot of water to a boil in forty seconds is worth something:
Impulse Labs extends its game-changing, ultra-fast cooktop
