Materials at the nanoscale are known to affect biological systems. To understand how particles act in the environment at a molecular level, well controlled particle systems are necessary. We have chosen nanodiamond as a model system to understand the factors that govern nano-bio interactions at a molecular level, because the covalent functionalization of diamond leads to surfaces with unprecedented chemical stability. Full disaggregation and concomitant functionalization methods have been optimized to create a library of dispersed nanoparticles particles that have tunable properties (e.g. charge and ligand bonding architecture). Control over diamond serves to match similar chemistries on gold nanoparticles, allowing the ability to elucidate the effect of particle functionality against core type. In probing molecular based interactions, we have been careful to rigorously quantify ligand density by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, applying particle curvature corrections to obtain meaningful values. The culmination is to have control over the core and ligand to understand the importance of each on the final particle's properties.

Functionalization of fully disaggregated nanodiamond for study of fundamental particle-environmental interactions

248th National Meeting (2014)

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