Method for Manufacturing Cubic Diamond Nanocrystals

Abstract

A method for manufacturing cubic diamond nanocrystals (10) comprising the following successive steps: (a) providing crystalline diamond powder where the maximum particle size of the powder is equal or more than 2 μm and equal or less than 1 mm; (b) milling said crystalline micron diamond powder using nitrogen jet milling micronization so as to manufacture a fine powder; (c) nanomilling the fine powder of step b) using a planetary tungsten carbide ball mill; (d) acid treating the nanomilled powder of step c); (e) extracting the cubic diamond nanocrystals (10) by centrifugation. Advantageously round-shaped cubic diamond nanocrystals are manufactured.

1 .- 9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . A cubic diamond nanocrystal ( 10 ) which maximum size is equal or less to 100 nm wherein:
 the diamond nanocrystal (10) is round-shaped;   the diamond nanocrystal's surface comprises amorphous carbon layer where the number of atomic range of said layer is equal or less to 1;   the diamond nanocrystal (10) consists of carbon comprising:
 0 to 2000 ppm dopant (s) 
 less or equal to 50 ppm impurity(ies). 
   
     
     
         11 . The cubic diamond nanocrystal (10) of preceding claim wherein said nanocrystal is fluorescent and the dopant(s) is (are) nitrogen (N) or nitrogen combined with nickel (Ni). 
     
     
         12 . The cubic diamond nanocrystal (10) of  claim 10  wherein the maximum size of the diamond nanocrystal is equal or less than 100 nm, as for example equal or less than 10 nm. 
     
     
         13 . A molecule labelled with the cubic diamond nanocrystal (10) of  claim 11 . 
     
     
         14 . A method of labelling a molecule comprising grafting a cubic diamond nanocrystal (10) according  claim 10 . 
     
     
         15 . Use of the cubic diamond nanocrystal (10) of  claim 10  in the technical fields chosen in the list consisting of biomolecule labelling, biomolecule vectorisation, bioanalysis, quantum information processing, magnetometry, imaging techniques, chemical vapour deposition diamond synthesis.