Laser-Induced Conversion of Teflon into Fluorinated Nanodiamonds or Fluorinated Graphene

Laser-assisted materials fabrication is an advanced technique that has propelled recent carbon synthesis approaches. Direct laser writing on polyimide or lignocellulose materials by a CO₂ laser has successfully transformed the substrates into hierarchical graphene. However, formation of other carbon allotropes such as diamond and fullerene remains challenging. Here, we report the direct synthesis of fluorinated nanodiamonds or fluorinated graphene by treating polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon, or PTFE) with a 9.3 μm pulsed CO₂ laser under argon; no exogenous fluorine source is needed. The laser is part of a commercial laser cutting/scribing system that is found in most machine shops. Therefore, it is a readily accessible tool. This discovery could inspire future development for the laser-assisted synthesis of functionalized carbon allotropes.