All that glitters isn’t gold. And all Thai gemstones aren’t rubies or sapphires. Some of the newest and most eye-catching jewels in the Kingdom are being made from a type of ceramic forged from farm waste in an innovative process created by engineering students at a local university.

As an agriculture and food production powerhouse in Asia, the Kingdom has an abundance of raw materials for the gemstones. Agricultural waste is also being used in other innovative ways, such as for biomass power generation and fuel sources.

A team of engineering students at Suranari University of Technology in the mainly rural northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima were the innovators behind the gemstones.

Credit goes to seniors Parnpailin Jaichuei, Chatcha Chuma and Saowalak Boonpakdi at the university’s Institute of Engineering’s School of Ceramic Engineering.

In an interview with the Bangkok Post on January 2, the students said that the waste was heated and liquified at 1,300 degrees Celsius into molten glass then cooled and turned into a solidified substance. It was then reheated in a ceramic oven at 550 degrees Celsius to provide more durability.

Saowalak said the gemstone’s color mirrors the material it came from. It was a size similar to that of natural gemstones, making it durable and suitable for industrial use, she said.

One kilogram of waste, which fetches 11 cents, can be made into 20 gemstones that could carry a value of almost $700.

The new purplish gemstones are brilliant in more than appearance: They make use of rice husks, straw and other leftover and discarded materials that farmers often burn, contributing to an unhealthy haze that blankets part of the country at certain times of the year. Also, they can provide farmers with an additional source of income, improving their livelihoods.

The benefits, however, are potential at this point. As the gemstones are a new creation, the market for them has yet to be established and no one can estimate its eventual size with any certainty. The students said, however, that the stones could have industrial uses as well as making a mark in the jewelry market.

Photo courtesy of  https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2931795/thai-researchers-turn-rice-husks-into-pricey-ceramic-gemstones