Paper NS-TuM2
Towards a Gold Standard in Single Digit Detonation Nanodiamond

Tuesday, November 8, 2016, 8:20 am, Room 101D

Aggregates of detonation nanodiamond have long been of interest for their numerous potential applications; however, no size of detonation nanodiamond (DND) is perhaps more elusive, yet technologically important, than sub 10 nanometer (or “single-digit”) primary particles. Primary particles of DND have a number of potential applications including drug delivery, seeding in microelelctronics, polymer nanocomposites, and lubricants. Nevertheless, the challenge associated with obtaining these particle from the initial 200-300nm aggregates of purified detonation soot has made them too expensive for widespread use. Even after overcoming the initial challenge of obtaining the primary particles, they are still often limited in their use due to the assortment of chemical functional groups found on their surface. Therefore, an additional challenge is to tailor the surface chemistry of the particles without sacrificing their size by promoting re-aggregation. A final challenge is to identify useful solvents where stability and size of the functionalized particles are preserved. Here we report our work in obtaining high yields of 5nm particles of DND, progress made toward functionalizing these particles with a number of useful chemical structures including: carboxyl, hydroxyl, amine, hydrophobic chains and the dispersion of these particles in a range of solvents such as DMSO, NMP, DMF, THF, Ethylene Glycol, Synthetic Oils, alcohols, and water.