Surface Structure of Aerobically Oxidized Diamond Nanocrystals
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 20, 2026
Characterization of Ultra-fine Grained and Nanocrystalline Materials Using Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction
Published on: April 1, 2017
Abraham Wolcott1, Theanne Schiros2, Matthew E Trusheim3
1Department of Chemistry, Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics, and Energy Frontier Research Center, Columbia University , New York, New York 10027, United States ; Department of Chemistry, Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics, and Energy Frontier Research Center, Columbia University , New York, New York 10027, United States ; Department of Chemistry, Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics, and Energy Frontier Research Center, Columbia University , New York, New York 10027, United States ; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States ; Diamond Nanotechnologies Inc., Boston, Massachusetts 02134, United States.
Abstract:
We investigate the aerobic oxidation of high-pressure, high-temperature nanodiamonds (5-50 nm dimensions) using a combination of carbon and oxygen K-edge X-ray absorption, wavelength-dependent X-ray photoelectron, and vibrational spectroscopies. Oxidation at 575 °C for 2 h eliminates graphitic carbon contamination (>98%) and produces nanocrystals with hydroxyl functionalized surfaces as well as a minor component (<5%) of carboxylic anhydrides. The low graphitic carbon content and the high crystallinity of HPHT are evident from Raman spectra acquired using visible wavelength excitation (λexcit = 633 nm) as well as carbon K-edge X-ray absorption spectra where the signature of a core-hole exciton is observed. Both spectroscopic features are similar to those of chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamond but differ significantly from the spectra of detonation nanodiamond. The importance of these findings to the functionalization of nanodiamond surfaces for biological labeling applications is discussed.
