With lab-grown diamonds becoming popular, is it possible to grow gold too?

Many laboratories are making diamonds, it is not unfair for people to question if synthetic gold is next in the pipeline.

While lab-grown diamonds have already found a way in the market, the dream of man-made gold is not feasible, experts have said.

Diamonds and gold are naturally occurring elements on the earth, both are luxury statements, carrying significant social and economical value across cultures.

However, they differ in their physical composition and the geological forces that make them.

Diamond, a solid form of carbon, is formed through a process of immense heat and pressure that causes the carbon to crystalize. 

Gold, unlike diamonds, is made through violent cosmic reactions, requiring a massive burst of energy to be formed.

How are lab-grown diamonds made?

Synthetic diamonds can be made under controllable conditions as it primarily requires heat and pressure which is not difficult to produce.

There are primarily two methods for making diamonds, said the Gemological Institute of America.

High pressure high temperature (HPHT)

A small fragment of diamond is placed inside a chemical chamber alongside carbon, and this mixture is subjected to high pressure and high temperatures. 

The growth chamber is heated to 1300-1600 degrees Centigrade and exposed to roughly 60,000 times the atmospheric pressure.

Under these conditions mimicking the natural geological processes, the carbon melts down and moves towards the cooler edges of the diamond.

Settling above it, the carbon crystallizes into diamond, increasing the size of the natural diamond by a few inches. The additional growth can later be chopped off and used to create small stones.

The process can take up to a few weeks.

Chemical vapour deposition (CVD)

Here a hydrocarbon gas mixture is exposed to moderate pressures and temperatures inside a vacuum chamber. This causes the carbon atoms to separate from the gas and deposit on the surface of the chamber. A fresh layer of diamonds can be collected from the surface in a some repetitive batches.

Is it possible to grow gold in labs?

Unlike diamond, which can be grown in labs using pressure and heat, the conditions needed to grow gold are not that simple.

If at all, the only possible method is to make gold using nuclear reactions, changing other elements into gold.

Metals like mercury or platinum are atomically manipulated by removing or adding protons (positively charged particles of an atom) inside the nucleus.

However, these reactions can only occur inside a nuclear reactor and require a high-cost setup.

The gold produced from this process is too small in quantity and also prone to decay. Hence, making the process impractical. 

Lab grown diamonds are feasible

Owing to easier production, lab-grown diamonds have come a long way, also providing visual beauty, structural similarity and a considerable quantity to match with mined stones.

As per the TOI, the lab grown diamond market stands at 33.54 billion in 2026 and is expected to rise up to 91.85 USD by 2034.

To grow gold will require high setup costs with less than  minimal outcome.