Lavoisier and countless others across Europe searched for a way to reverse the process, to turn graphite into diamond. Vast wealth would be the reward for anyone who could do it, and the race was on. But the task was a formidable one. All materials prefer to change from less stable to more stable structures, and because the diamond structure is less stable than graphite’s, it requires very high temperatures and pressures to persuade it to change in the opposite direction. These conditions exist inside the Earth’s crust, but it still takes billions of years to grow a big diamond crystal.
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