A study recovered nanodiamonds from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) after compressing the plastic with high-energy laser pulses. It measured an average particle diameter of 3 nm, with a standard deviation below 1 nm, under shock conditions of about 100 GPa and 4,000 K. The study presents the result as a potential production route.
How researchers recovered the nanodiamonds
The researchers used nanosecond laser pulses, each lasting a billionth of a second, to drive a shock through PET. The study reports a vacuum-compatible, water-soluble ionic gel as the catcher for particles released from the shocked material.
The sequence links the extreme compression to a practical recovery step: the gel collects the particles so they can be measured after the shock experiment.
What the 3 nm measurement means
Three nanometers is the reported average diameter, not the size of every particle. The standard deviation describes how measurements vary around that average; the study reports it as less than 1 nm. The approximate pressure and temperature describe the PET shock-compression conditions associated with the recovery.
A laboratory result, with production at scale still a possibility
The experiment demonstrates recovery in a laboratory setting. The study presents cleaner, scalable production as a potential route, rather than reporting industrial-scale manufacture. Its result concerns nanodiamonds, not jewelry-sized stones or a commercial PET recycling process.
