Turning tequila into diamonds

Tequila doesn’t just produce hangovers any more. Under the right conditions, the alcohol can be turned into diamonds. Researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, experimenting with making thin films of diamond from organic solutions, decided to conduct their tests using a “ pocket-size bottle of cheap white tequila.” They heated the tequila to ...

591531_081113_tequila2.jpg
591531_081113_tequila2.jpg

Tequila doesn't just produce hangovers any more. Under the right conditions, the alcohol can be turned into diamonds.

Tequila doesn’t just produce hangovers any more. Under the right conditions, the alcohol can be turned into diamonds.

Researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, experimenting with making thin films of diamond from organic solutions, decided to conduct their tests using a “
pocket-size bottle of cheap white tequila.” They heated the tequila to 1,470ºF, breaking down its molecular structure. The resulting carbon film, upon close examination, had formed into an almost perfect diamond structure. Tequila’s mix of 40 percent ethanol and 60 percent water is the reason it serves as the perfect compound for creating synthetic diamonds.

The diamond film, while not useful in jewelry, could be used to coat cutting tools and perhaps most profitably as a substitute for silicon in computer chips. The researchers hope to begin mass-producing the synthetic diamond film by 2011. The advance could be a boon to both tequila manufacturers and Mexico’s agave farmers, who would benefit from the increased demand for tequila. Watch out, Botswana!

Chris Hondros/Newsmakers

More from Foreign Policy

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.

At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment

Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.

How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China

As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.

What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal

Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.

A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.
A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.

Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust

Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.