Various nanoscale elements are currently being explored for bio-applications, such as in bio-images, biodetection, and bio-sensors. Among them, nanodiamonds possess remarkable features such as low bio-cytotoxicity, good optical property in fluorescent and Raman spectra, and good photostability for bio-applications. In this work, we devise techniques to position functionalized nanodiamonds on se...

Presented are results of our ab initio study of the surface reconstruction and relaxation of (100) surfaces on bulk and nanocrystalline diamond. We have used a density functional theory (DFT) within the generalized-gradient approximation (GGA) via the parallel computer version of the Vienna ab initio simulation package (VASP), to consider dehydrogenated and hydrogenated surfaces. Edges and corn...

Hydrogen plays a significant role in the formation of nanodiamond, terminating diamond surfaces and removing sp bonded atoms from the surface during CVD diamond growth. However, there are only a few calculations that simulate nanodiamond development directly, and even less that do so in a hydrogen-containing environment. Recently, nanoscale graphitic layers emebedded in amorphous carbon were al...

BACKGROUND The continuing spread of the newly emerged H7N9 virus among poultry in China, as well as the possibility of human-to-human transmission, has attracted numerous efforts to develop an effective vaccine against H7N9. The use of nanoparticles in vaccinology is inspired by the fact that most pathogens have a dimension within the nano-size range and therefore can be processed efficiently b...

Nanocarbon-derived electron emission devices, specifically nanodiamond lateral field emission (FE) diodes and gated carbon nanotube (CNT) triodes, are new configurations for robust nanoelectronic devices. These novel micro/nanostructures provide an alternative and efficient means of accomplishing electronics that are impervious to temperature and radiation. For example, nitrogen-incorporated na...

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. Curren...

Nanodiamond particles form agglomerates in the dry powder state and this poses limitation to the accessibility of their diamond-like core thus dramatically impacting their technological advancement. In this work, we report de-agglomeration of nanodiamond (ND) by using a facile technique namely, salt-assisted ultrasonic de-agglomeration (SAUD). Utilizing ultrasound energy and ionic salts (sodium...

Nanodiamond imaging is a new molecular imaging modality that takes advantage of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in nanodiamonds to image a distribution of nanodiamonds with high sensitivity and high spatial resolution. Since nanodiamonds are nontoxic and are easily conjugated to biomolecules, nanodiamond imaging can potentially elicit physiological information from within a living organism. The p...