Pure Nanodiamonds Produced by Laser-assisted Technique

Nanodiamond powder belongs to the carbon nanomaterial family, which, along with graphene, fullerene and nanotubes, has attracted great interest in recent years due to its unique physical and chemical properties. Initially, nanodiamond applications were rooted in the defense industry but have now reached into a variety of fields, such as fine polishing, lubricating, coatings and polymers. Currently, nanodiamonds have entered biomedicine, thermal management in electronics, photovoltaics and energy storage applications. Nanodiamond powder is composed of diamond nanoparticles with average size of 4–5 nm, usually collected in aggregates of a few hundred nanometers and even microns. Each primary particle consists of a nanocrystal of tetrahedral bonded carbon atoms collected in a three-dimensional cubic lattice, which determines the unique properties of diamond, and an onionlike carbon shell with a chemically active ‘‘coat’’ of functional groups on the surface. This coat enables interaction with various molecules, which transfers to them the unique properties of diamond and makes possible the