Functionalization of nanocrystalline diamond: Building blocks for functional materials

INOR 642

Garry B Cunningham, gcunningham@itc-inc.org, Olga Shenderova, Suzanne Ciftan Hens, shens@itc-inc.org, and Gary McGuire. International Technology Center, 8100 Brownleigh Road, Suite 120, Raleigh, NC 27617
Diamond, with its excellent mechanical strength and chemical robustness, is a useful building block for functional materials. Nanocrystalline diamond has been shown to be useful in a myriad of material applications, but the formation of chemical bonds to nanodiamond has been limited. This is due, in part, to the uncontrolled chemical functionality on the surface of the diamond. Detonation nanodiamond, during its purification process, typically possesses a great number of different functional groups on its surface including: acid, alcohol, ester, ether, etc. This large number of functional groups does allow for chemical bond formation to the nanodiamond, but makes for difficult control and characterization. This problem is solved by reducing the number of surface functional groups, followed by using standard wet chemistry methods to produce the desired reactive functional group. Several different chemical transformations will be discussed, including their characterization and materials incorporation.