The burning flame of a candle has generated comparisons to the sparkling shine of diamonds for centuries, but new research has found that this similarity is due more to science than to the dreams of poets.

Professor Wuzong Zhou, Professor of Chemistry at the University of St. Andrews, has discovered that tiny diamond particles exist in the candle flame.
His research marked a scientific leap forward in solving a mystery that had remained unsolved for thousands of years.
Since the time the first candle was invented in ancient China, more than 2,000 years ago, people have been dying of curiosity to know what hidden secrets its flame contained.

Professor Zhou’s research has revealed that, in a burning candle flame, about one and a half million diamond particles are produced every second.
The distinguished academic revealed that he discovered this unknown element after a combustion challenge originated with a fellow scientist.

Professor Zhou recounted,“A colleague from another university told me, ‘Of course no one knows what a candle flame is made of.'”
“I replied to him, however, that I believed science could eventually explain everything, and so I decided to find out.”

Using a new sample method, assisted by his student Mr. Zixue Su, the Professor was able to remove some particles from the center of the flame (an experiment that had never succeeded until then) and discovered, to his amazement, that a candle flame contained all four forms of carbon.

Professor Zhou commented,“It was a surprise because each of the four forms is usually produced each under different conditions.”

It was already known that hydrocarbon molecules existed at the base of the flame, which were then converted to carbon dioxide at the top of the flame itself, but the process between the two phases had always remained an unsolved mystery.
Now both diamond nanoparticles and particles of fullerene (a molecular allotrope of carbon discovered in 1985) have been discovered at the center of the flame, along with graphite and amorphous carbon.

WHAT DIAMOND
CAN SHINE
AS BRIGHTLY AS A FLAME?

The discovery could lead to future research of how diamond, a key substance in industry, could be created at a lower cost and in an easier way.

Professor Zhou also added,“Unfortunately, the diamond particles are completely burned throughout the process, and thus converted to carbon dioxide, but this will forever change the way we see a candle flame.”

The famous scientist Michael Faraday, in his famous nineteenth-century lectures on“The Chemical History of a Candle,” said at his 1860 talk on light:

“You have the sparkling beauty of gold and silver, along with the even greater luster of jewels such as ruby and diamond, but none of these can compete with the brilliance of flame. What diamond can shine as brightly as a flame?“

Rosey Barnet, Artistic Director of one of the largest Houses, in Scotland, producing candles, Shearer Candles, described this discovery as exciting.
And in fact he commented thus,“We felt excited to learn of the discovery that diamond particles exist in a candle flame.”

“Although there is currently no way to extract these particles, it remains an exciting discovery, one that could change the way people view candles. The University of St. Andrews research will be of great interest to the entire candle-making industry. We have always known that candles light up a room, but now scientific research has given us more insight into why.”

Source: phys.org