Pristine Nanodiamond Research Articles

Photochemical modification of nanodiamond films with perfluorooctyl functionalities

Photolysis of perfluoroazooctane in the presence of nanodiamond films on Si substrate resulted in surface modification with perfluorooctyl functional groups, which was confirmed by means of FT-IR, XPS, Raman and TOF-SIMS measurements. The nanodiamond films modified with fluorine moieties show a reduction of the surface energy in comparison with pristine nanodiamond film. The contact angle of chemically modified nanodiamond film to water is 124°, comparable to that of polytetrafluoroethylene (103°). In the case of nanodiamond films deposited on glass substrate with a transparent property, this chemical modification would not influence the transparency of nanodiamond films, showing > 87% transmittance in the region of > 400 nm wavelength.

Functionalization of Nanoscale Diamond Powder: Fluoro-, Alkyl-, Amino-, and Amino Acid-Nanodiamond Derivatives

The reaction of nanoscale diamond (ND) powder with an elemental fluorine/hydrogen mixture at temperatures varying from 150 to 470 °C resulted in the high degree of ND surface fluorination yielding a fluoro-nanodiamond with up to 8.6 at. % fluorine content. The fluoro-nanodiamond was used as a precursor for preparation of the series of functionalized nanodiamonds by subsequent reactions with alkyllithium reagents, diamines, and amino acids. The fluoro-nanodiamond and corresponding alkyl-, amino-, and amino acid-nanodiamond derivatives were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermal gravimetry-mass spectrometry (TG-MS) measurements. In comparison with the pristine nanodiamond, all functionalized nanodiamonds show an improved solubility in polar organic solvents, e.g., alcohols and THF, and a reduced particle agglomeration. The developed method...