Carbon-Dot-Decorated Nanodiamonds

The synthesis of a new class of fluorescent carbon nanomaterials, carbon‐dot‐decorated nanodiamonds (CDD‐ND), is reported. These CDD‐NDs are produced by specific acid treatment of detonation soot, forming tiny rounded sp2 carbon species (carbon dots), 1–2 atomic layers thick and 1–2 nm in size, covalently attached to the surface of the detonation diamond nanoparticles. A combination of nanodiamonds bonded with a graphitic phase as a starting material and the application of graphite intercalated acids for oxidation of the graphitic carbon is necessary for the successful production of CDD‐ND. The CDD‐ND photoluminescence (PL) is stable, 20 times more intense than the intrinsic PL of well‐purified NDs and can be tailored by changing the oxidation process parameters. Carbon‐dot‐decorated DNDs are shown to be excellent probes for bioimaging applications and inexpensive additives for PL nanocomposites. A new class of fluorescent carbon nanomaterials called carbon‐dot‐decorated nanodiamonds (CDD‐NDs) has been synthesized. Specific acid treatment of detonation soot results in formation of rounded sp2 carbon species 1–2 nm in size attached to the surface of diamond nanoparticles. A facile and scalable method of synthesis of CDD‐NDs is appealing for bioimaging applications using small size fluorescent nanodiamond particles.