Fluorination and characterization of nanodiamond particles. (South Carolina Junior Academy Of Sciences Abstracts).

Diamonds and diamond-like carbon films have received much attention due to their great hardness, chemical inertness, optical transparency, and good field emission, among other properties. Fluorine is often reacted with carbon systems, especially carbon nanotubes, because it is known to react with graphite to create graphite fluoride. We hope that by fluorinating nanodiamonds in the same way as nanotubes they will become more reactive. In the fluorination, elemental fluorine, diluted with helium, was passed through a temperature-controlled Monel[TM] flow reactor containing the nanodiamonds. The analysis of the fluorination included Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy in the KBr pellet method, Energy Dispersive Fluorescent X-Ray Analysis (EDAX), and Scanning Electron Microscope images. The analysis showed that significant amounts of fluorine could be added to nanodiamonds. Infrared showed the presence of covalently bound fluorine, confirmed by EDAX. The SEM showed that particle size decreased with longer times.

Nenna Agrawal South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics