Can you GROW an Opal?
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Opal is easily one of the most beautiful gem stones and surprisingly it is also quite easy to grow synthetically. Unlike other gems which are solid crystals, opal is made of silica nanoparticles which have to be stacked together in just the right way to produce their magnificent colors. By growing silica nanoparticles of the right size, synthetic opal can be grown that looks just as amazing as the real thing.
Videos/channels I mentioned:
Smartereveryday – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHecdSDz4uU
Nilered – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0HfmYBlF8g
Applied science – https://www.youtube.com/user/bkraz333
Papers:
Stober process – https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11051-016-3691-8.pdf
Opal preparation – http://www.pinfire.de/opal-literature/Some-Aspects-of-Opal-Synthesis.pdf
Supercritical opal drying – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273286020_The_application_of_supercritical_drying_in_the_synthesis_of_silica-based_materials
Opal images and info – www.synthetic-opals.com
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Maybe if you occasionally disturb the mixture while it is settling it will break up the stripes.
*slowly puts away borax and water…*
Ive always wondered why meat go rainbow, thankyou for a very much needed answer!
so how does all that happen in nature !
ANyone have any resources on synthetic garnet?
rainbow mentos.
have you tried thin CA glue or will there fine porosity of the opal cause it to over heat and crack or the Cactus Juice Stabilizing resin that you infuse into the whatever you want to stabilize and bake in a regular over to get it to harden
you could make lots of opal fragments with the tiny stuff you made and throw them into a batch thats just settling. that way you would get the spots from the tiny opal fragments, rather than long streaks.
Did you ever try a pressure pot with the resin? Or maybe vacuum chamber and then pressure pot? Something to really force the resin into the opal, as I assume the surface tension of the resin is just too much to get into it, even when the air is voided from it
Ahhh I wish I could make these, so pretty
To get rid of the tiger striping pattern, could it be as easy as occasionally rotating and changing the tilt of the container during growth? This should change the formation process of the nanostructures giving it a more random appearance. Also, could you mix in a tiny amount of particles that are slightly larger than the rest to create gaps between color groups? Could create more colors this way since there are now more light refracting angles available.
do i know what’s happening here? no!
am i watching all of it anyways? yes!
In the carbon fiber industry we thinned a 2 part resin with acetone, not sure if that would work here though.
It’s my birthstone the color is called fire
Could you make Yooperlite?
How to make opals at Home:
Two scoobs of moon-dust, one squeesed stone and a green fire is all U need. Have fun đ
very cool seeing Nilered branded stuff in other experiment vids đ
When you don’t understand half of what’s being said, but you’re invested enough to wait for the end result.
Thanks for the explanation about muscle cells in meat! I’ve seen that iridescence many times but I assumed they were salt crystals.
Thanks for info.
For opal treatment this might help. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65NdWsOc_OA
Ethiopian Opal is the most beautiful.
Subjective, My opinion only. I don’t really care for synthetic stones but this video is interesting.
EDIT… If you can recreate Sleeping Beauty Turquoise, I’m on your team, LoL.
Can you do human transmutation next?
Jokes aside though, awesome video! I love opals too but never had much of an idea of their composition and this is really really cool.
where’s that special drying chamber? can we get an update?
Can you combine the two methods? Let them settle out over a couple weeks, then put them in a centrifuge to stabilize the structure for drying?
No đ
"You can see the whole universe"
This is AWESOME. So interesting!!!
faceted opal is really cool, but due to opal’s relative softness and uncertain cleavages, faceting opal can be quite a pointless challenge to undertake. This is an excellent use case for synthetic opal, though.
What about using CA glue to stabilize the opal instead of resin?? I’ve done this in wood, it should translate to the small voids in opal. Water thin CA wicks into small voids and fissures through capillary action, you can actually join parts together by applying next to the joint and letting it seep through and penetrate the junction.
The tiger striped opal would look great as a the edge of a counter top made in opal.
call them fake because there is an industry behind the mining and jewelry industry.
What a fake and unpleasant looking "opal" . Nature do the best job for us that we don’t waste our time.
you could maybe try stabilizing resin
Dried opal soaked in silicone tetrachloride then left in a humidity chamber might be a way to get it to actually stick together while maintaining its structure. Then you can even do progressive dips and dries under vacuum (so it penetrates) to build up the silica layers over time
Edit: I should add. When I say humidity chamber. I don’t necessarily mean a chamber kept at 100% humidity as that would likely just cause crystallization on the outside leaving the inside still soft and fragile and worse, sealed off from any further strengthening procedure. Rather I mean a chamber which is kept at a very low constant humidity. Perhaps around 1% or so. So that vapours have a chance to diffuse in and form the silica slowly
I think you should make a kiln and just go for some sintering unless you know that process is super hard. Itâs actually relatively inexpensive to build your own digital kiln. Especially with your understanding a kiln wouldnât be hard to add to the collection of equipment.
You should hook up with the hydraulic press channel, that guy loves trying new things and 10,000psi is child’s play for him lol
As an Aussie I am screaming at the way he says cooper pedy……itâs pronounced cooper pea dee
We see you, Opal
Why not dry them out in a vacuum chamber? Also, when doing ceramics, there is a milky glaze which turns clear in a kiln during the vitrification process. There is then an annealing process that all ceramics and glass must go through. Why couldn’t you put glaze in your nanoparticle solution, let it dry under vacuum pressure, and then kiln the opals? For a more natural look, why couldn’t you take chips and pieces of pre-dried batches (with glaze solution), toss them into a loading tube, pour in your nanoparticle solution (with glaze media), let settle, and vitrify in a kiln after vacuum drying?
I love opal, it’s my birthstone
Maybe try thinning the resin with a solvent, I’ve used acetone to thin out gel coatings and never had a issue.
What an incredible experiment i hope you do another opal one, perhaps a stabilizing resin would work better
nice
You make me feel dizzy, you speak so fast, no breathing
I can’t stop thinking about steven universe while watching this :,)
Iâm a big nerd who loves sceincy type videos specifically Nile Red and al his content so hearing his name in this vid was a joy, I love gemstones and such so this channel was an amazing find please continue to make these discoveries and amazing content