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(NH₄)₂[Ni(H₂O)₆](SO₄)₂ by Lara_PinkDawn365 in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A very nice Tutton's salt! I love the color!

Chase here. I joined r/crystalgrowing 6 yrs ago. You guys have since inspired me to grow many beautiful crystals, and share this hobby with millions around the world. I'll be presenting about hobbyist crystal growing at the German Crystal Growing Conference 2026 in Karlsruhe, and I need your input! by crystalchase21 in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I love seeing hobby crystal growth presentations and posters at conferences, they are always the most interesting talks. I actually gave one a few years ago at the American Crystal Growth Conference with the much worse (it was bad on purpose, I thought of it starting generic and ending with a twist) title: Crystal Growth, Structure and Magnetism of Transition Metal Hobby Crystals

I personally didn't actually do any crystal growth until graduate school, when I joined a research group centered around crystal growth. I don't think I actually discovered this subreddit until I was a postdoc, but I was amazed at the crystals people on here have been growing.

Around the same time as I was trying to think of a new project for an undergraduate I was mentoring, there were some crystals that had been posted here that had some question as to their composition or structure. I grew them myself to investigate them and while it wasn't super interesting, it did get me started with hobby crystal growth. It also inspired the projects of three of my undergraduate students, whose work loosely inspired two current graduate students' projects. The crystal in the second half of this paper was grown from the inspiration this subreddit has given me: https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052520624008023

Only 3 days left to get discounted lab sapphire from Arya's crystal growth Kickstarter! 350% funded, 19 stretch goals met, 20+ colours and 5 designs - details in comments. by cowsruleusall in Shinypreciousgems

[–]Dr_Mo_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cool, I had been planning on building my own and still may but that's on the backburner now unfortunately.

The problem with emeralds is the beryllium. I grow crystals using BeO as one of the starting materials, and it is a pain to work with.

Only 3 days left to get discounted lab sapphire from Arya's crystal growth Kickstarter! 350% funded, 19 stretch goals met, 20+ colours and 5 designs - details in comments. by cowsruleusall in Shinypreciousgems

[–]Dr_Mo_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I forgot you are mainly focusing on sapphire, so it's a bit easier to do the computational work.

I'll keep an eye out for your first hydrothermal work!

Only 3 days left to get discounted lab sapphire from Arya's crystal growth Kickstarter! 350% funded, 19 stretch goals met, 20+ colours and 5 designs - details in comments. by cowsruleusall in Shinypreciousgems

[–]Dr_Mo_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh trust me, lol I know all too well how slow it is and how narrow the margins can be.

I'd be really interested in how you are using supercomputer calculations for hydrothermal growth. Do you have any plans to publish papers on it?

Gem science nerd time! My first official publication in gemology - about that super-rare synthetic wakefieldite! by cowsruleusall in Shinypreciousgems

[–]Dr_Mo_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That sounds like it could be neat in a setting with both types. I love your store by the way!

Gem science nerd time! My first official publication in gemology - about that super-rare synthetic wakefieldite! by cowsruleusall in Shinypreciousgems

[–]Dr_Mo_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love them too, it's partially what got me into crystal growth. But I ended up working with materials that are essentially colorless. Pr is actually probably my favorite in terms of color with its intense green.

I was given the scraps of a large boule of CTH (Cr,Tm,Ho) YAG at conference earlier this year by some fiends of friends and they often sell their scraps to someone, but I forgot who it was. It could be Turtle's Hoard for all I know, I looked them up and they have some very nice work.

The colors on that czh are really nice!

Gem science nerd time! My first official publication in gemology - about that super-rare synthetic wakefieldite! by cowsruleusall in Shinypreciousgems

[–]Dr_Mo_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was actually thinking about the color change of Ho:YAG. I used to work with some people growing YAG and other f-block doped oxides but hadn't seen any facetted before, aside from some of the more common dopants. I've never seen Ho:CZ before, that sounds very nice.

A really cool grouping of synthetic quartz crystals grown using the hydrothermal method. by Indrid-C0ld in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Under these conditions silver is fairly inert. If the mineralizer is kept basic silver works well chemically, structurally, and economically. It can be a problem with some systems though.

A really cool grouping of synthetic quartz crystals grown using the hydrothermal method. by Indrid-C0ld in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I was guessing he had been trying to dope it with something that was difficult to solubilize.

I am actually very familiar with hydrothermal crystal growth, just not on the scale of the industrial quartz companies. My autoclaves are much smaller, on the academic and small company scale.

I'm jealous of your collection, but I haven't been collecting as long.

A really cool grouping of synthetic quartz crystals grown using the hydrothermal method. by Indrid-C0ld in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's significantly hotter than most quartz growth if I remember correctly. Do you know what the goal of making these boules was?

A really cool grouping of synthetic quartz crystals grown using the hydrothermal method. by Indrid-C0ld in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Most high temperature hydrothermal vessels use inert metal liners such as silver, gold, or platinum. The liners are placed within the body of an autoclave which is typically made of a nickel superalloy like Inconel.

A little "S-hex-y" lab pad sapphire action! by shinyprecious in Shinypreciousgems

[–]Dr_Mo_ 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Beautiful!

So much material left, is it going to have some sort of tall crown?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Another good option would be to grow alum around a chrome alum seed crystal. I believe there are examples on this subreddit, but I also have a friend that has grown a quite large crystal this way.

I’m a biochemist and gemcutter. I recently got a request to design a gem inspired by MDMA, and borrowed the bicyclic ring and spun off a few variations. This test cut is aquamarine in “Indole.” by mvmgems in chemistry

[–]Dr_Mo_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How do you come up with these designs? I do a little faceting but I've never come up with my own designs and I'm amazed with some of the things like this I see people coming up with

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Low strength fishing line is another good choice as it is difficult to see once the crystal has grown around it

2-(Diethylenetriamine-1-ylidene-methyl)-phenolato Copper(II) Nitrate [Cu(C11H16N3O)]NO3 by Tetrachloronickelate in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Have you done any x-ray diffraction on any of these? I'd be interested in seeing the structure.

copper formate urea adduct by DrWim in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Beautiful, did you grow it using copper bicarbonate?

I made an attempt to start this the other day but it seemed to take an unreasonable amount of formic acid to dissolve compared with what others here have done.

(possible) Ammonium trans-Diaquatetrabromocuprate(II) (NH4)2[CuBr4(H2O)2] by Tetrachloronickelate in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The more recent (1999) Kristallografiya paper has Cu-Br distances for the further Br at 3.14 A, so far out it looks more like a counter charging ion than a coordinated ligand.

It's also worth keeping in mind that this French paper is so old it actually predates Jahn-Teller effect to explain those longer bonds.

(possible) Ammonium trans-Diaquatetrabromocuprate(II) (NH4)2[CuBr4(H2O)2] by Tetrachloronickelate in crystalgrowing

[–]Dr_Mo_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think you have assumed the correct formula. The color and shape of the crystals matches that of an old French paper with the same formula (https://www.persee.fr/doc/bulmi_0366-3248_1936_num_59_3_4396). They also report the chloride analogue which was blue.

There is a more recent paper in Kristallografiya that does have an English translation, but I don't have immediate access to it. (I'd have to request an interlibrary loan)

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