What Is Diamond Slurry?
Diamond Slurry is a slurry containing small-sized diamond particles.
Generally, a slurry is a fluid with viscosity. It is a mixture of liquid and mineral particles or other substances, and has the appearance of flowing muddy water. The particles are dispersed in the liquid.
Diamond particles are quite small in size, on the order of micrometers (μm). Diamond Slurry is mainly used in abrasive applications due to the hardness of the diamond particles.
The main ingredients are diamond particles and a liquid in which the particles are dispersed. Diamond Slurry is classified into several types depending on the type of diamond particles in the mixture. The liquid in which Diamond Slurry is mixed also has different properties, such as being water-soluble or oil-based.
Uses of Diamond Slurry
Diamond Slurry is used during the operation of polishing equipment for precision polishing processes. Diamond Slurry is fed between the workpiece to be polished and the abrasive.
Mono-crystalline diamond is prone to cracking in certain directions, but has the advantage of being artificially produced at a relatively low cost. Therefore, monocrystalline diamond slurries are used to polish workpieces that are not extremely hard.
Polycrystalline diamond, on the other hand, is less prone to cleavage and has very good wear resistance. Therefore, polycrystalline diamond slurries can be used to polish ultra-hard materials without much scratching. It is used for polishing very hard materials such as lenses, hard disks, ceramics, gemstones, and superalloys.
Principle of Diamond Slurry
When Diamond Slurry is used in the polishing process, tiny diamond particles come into strong contact with the surface of the object and are polished.
The abrasiveness of Diamond Slurry is not only determined by the type of diamond particles, but also by the properties of the liquid in the slurry, the properties of particles other than diamond particles, and the viscosity of the slurry.
Liquids include water-soluble liquids with high detergency and oil-based liquids with corrosion resistance, etc., and the appropriate liquid is selected for each application.
Types of Diamond Slurry
The following types of Diamond Slurry exist. It is important to select the right one for your application in order to use it effectively.
1. Mono-Crystalline Diamond Slurry
Mono-crystalline Diamond Slurry contains fine particles of mono-crystalline diamond. Since each monocrystalline diamond particle is made up of a single crystal block, it tends to break along the direction of the crystal. Although they are somewhat fragile when strong force is applied, the broken ends tend to be sharp and can exhibit high polishing power.
Mono-crystalline diamonds can be manufactured artificially at relatively low cost. They are used more frequently in industrial applications than natural monocrystalline diamond.
2. Polycrystalline Diamond Slurry
Polycrystalline Diamond Slurry contains fine particles of polycrystalline diamond. Polycrystalline diamond is formed by aggregating small crystalline masses. Since many crystals are oriented in different directions, they are resistant to cracking and peeling even when subjected to force from all directions.
Polycrystalline diamond is produced by sintering graphite under high temperature and high pressure.
3. Other Types of Diamond Slurry
In addition to the above types, there are also nanodiamond slurry, RCD diamond slurry, and others.
Nano Diamond Slurry contains smaller diamond particles and thus has better dispersion stability, while RCD Diamond Slurry is made of specially processed mono-crystalline diamond particles with properties similar to polycrystalline diamond.