Influence of surface modification adopting thermal treatments on dispersion of detonation nanodiamond

Detonation synthesized diamond has a primary particle size of around 10 nm, but serious agglomeration both in air and liquid media hinders its application as a nanoscaled material. As thermal treatments can cause graphitization and oxidization of functional groups at nanodiamond surface, the nanodiamond treated at high temperature is correspondingly more negatively charged in an aqueous medium, and the increased absolute value of zeta potential ensures the electrostatic stability of particles. Well-dispersed nanodiamond suspension can be prepared in aqueous medium. When a polymer dispersant was introduced, excellent dispersion in a non-aqueous medium, white oil, can also be realized.