I’ve seen — and experienced — tequila fuel transformations of varying kinds (most of which hurt a lot the next day), but it looks like Mexican scientists have figured out how to turn the spicy liquor into crystal structures that are identical to diamond. Tequila diamonds; so very cool. Death in the diamond mines, not so much anymore — just look out for the girls dancing on the lab tables after a few samples go missing from the bottle. Snip:
(…) The surprise use for the national tipple emerged when researchers at the National Autonomous University experimented with making ultra-thin films of diamond from organic solutions, such as acetone and ethanol. The mix that worked best, 40% alcohol and 60% water, was similar to the proportions used in tequila.
Diamond films are extremely durable and heat resistant and can be used to coat cutting tools. By carefully adding impurities to the films, it is also possible to make diamond semiconductors for use in electronic circuits.
Luis Miguel Apátiga, a member of the team, brought a bottle of cheap tequila into the lab to see if it could be turned into diamond. When he heated a shot to 800C it vaporised and broke down into its atomic constituents, producing a fine layer of carbon on nearby metal trays.
Close examination of the films at high magnification revealed that the carbon had formed into crystal structures identical to diamond. Each was around one thousandth of a millimetre across. (…read more, guardian.co.uk — see also Scientists Turn Tequila into Diamonds, physorg.com)