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Probing the Surface of Nanodiamonds at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource and San Jose State University

MetadataDetails
Publication Date2018-01-01
JournalDigitalCommons (California Polytechnic State University)
AuthorsJocelyn Valenzuela, Jackson Earl, Cynthia Melendrez, Grace Jeanpierre, Dennis Nordlund

The nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond is a promising tool in oncology, electric field sensing, and quantum cryptography. High-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) nanodiamonds (NDs) are prime contenders for these fields because they host nitrogen-vacancy centers (NVCs) which are applicable towards cancer detection and electric and magnetic field sensing. However, to apply HPHT NDs to these fields, the surface must first be functionalized—a difficult process because of the inert nature of the surface. The project at hand focuses on surface modification of HPHT NDs with amines to allow for further bioconjugation of small molecules and plasmonic shells. This is done via liquid-phase chemistry and high-temperature gas-phase chemistry. To characterize the surface of aminated NDs, samples are probed using synchrotron radiation at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) alongside the transmission edge spectroscopy (TES) detector. Aminated NDs were characterized using X-ray photoelectric spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at SSRL. X-ray spectra are suggestive of multiple nitrogen moieties on the surface of the aminated NDs. With verification of a homogeneously amine-terminated surface, the NDs are prepared for further functionalization which can be targeted to enhance the properties of the NVC charge states for applications in enhanced electric field and voltage sensing.