A microscopic model for surface-induced diamond-to-graphite transitions

Centimeter-sized diamond composites with high electrical conductivity and hardness

Achieving high-performance materials with superior mechanical properties and electrical conductivity, especially in large-sized bulk forms, has always been the goal. However, it remains a grand challenge due to the inherent trade-off between these properties. Herein, by employing nanodiamonds as precursors, centimeter-sized diamond/graphene composites were synthesized under moderate pressure and temperature conditions (12 GPa and 1,300 to 1,500 °C), and the composites consisted of ultrafine diamond grains and few-layer graphene domains interconnected through covalently bonded interfaces. The composites exhibit a remarkable electrical conductivity of 2.0 × 104 S m-1 at room temperature, a Vickers hardness of up to ~55.8 GPa, and a toughness of 10.8 to 19.8 MPa m1/2. Theoretical calculations indicate that the transformation energy barrier for the graphitization of diamond surface is lower than that for diamond growth directly from conventional sp2 carbon materials, allowing the synthesis of such diamond composites under mild conditions. The above results pave the way for realizing large-sized diamond-based materials with ultrahigh electrical conductivity and superior mechanical properties simultaneously under moderate synthesis conditions, which will facilitate their large-scale applications in a variety of fields.

Raman Study of the Diamond to Graphite Transition Induced by the Single Femtosecond Laser Pulse on the (111) Face

The use of the ultrafast pulse is the current trend in laser processing many materials, including diamonds. Recently, the orientation of the irradiated crystal face was shown to play a crucial role in the diamond to graphite transition process. Here, we develop this approach and explore the nanostructure of the sp² phase, and the structural perfection of the graphite produced. The single pulse of the third harmonic of a Ti:sapphire laser (100 fs, 266 nm) was used to study the process of producing highly oriented graphite (HOG) layers on the (111) surface of a diamond monocrystal. The laser fluence dependence on ablated crater depth was analyzed, and three different regimes of laser-induced diamond graphitization are discussed, namely: nonablative graphitization, customary ablative graphitization, and bulk graphitization. The structure of the graphitized material was investigated by confocal Raman spectroscopy. A clear correlation was found between laser ablation regimes and sp² phase structure. The main types of structural defects that disrupt the HOG formation both at low and high laser fluencies were determined by Raman spectroscopy. The patterns revealed give optimal laser fluence for the production of perfect graphite spots on the diamond surface.

Electronic-structure methods for materials design

The accuracy and efficiency of electronic-structure methods to understand, predict and design the properties of materials has driven a new paradigm in research. Simulations can greatly accelerate the identification, characterization and optimization of materials, with this acceleration driven by continuous progress in theory, algorithms and hardware, and by adaptation of concepts and tools from computer science. Nevertheless, the capability to identify and characterize materials relies on the predictive accuracy of the underlying physical descriptions, and on the ability to capture the complexity of realistic systems. We provide here an overview of electronic-structure methods, of their application to the prediction of materials properties, and of the different strategies employed towards the broader goals of materials design and discovery.

Boron position-dependent surface reconstruction and electronic states of boron-doped diamond(111) surfaces: an ab initio study

Boron-doped diamond (BDD) has attracted much attention in semi-/superconductor physics and electrochemistry, where the surface structures and electronic states play crucial roles. Herein, we systematically examine the structural and electronic properties of the unterminated and H-terminated diamond(111) surfaces by using density functional theory calculations, and the effect of the boron position on them. The surface energy increases compared to that of the undoped case when the boron is located at a deeper position in the diamond bulk, which indicates that boron near the surface can facilitate the surface stability of the BDD in addition to the H-termination. Moreover, the surface energy and projected density of state analyses suggest that the boron can enhance the graphitization of the pristine (ideal) unterminated (111) surface thanks to the alternative sp2-sp3 arrangement on that surface. Finally, we found that surface electronic states depend on the boron's position, i.e., the Fermi energy (EF) is located around the mid-gap position when the boron lies near the surface, instead of showing a p-type semiconductor behavior where the EF lies closer to the valence band maximum.

Diamond-Graphene Composite Nanostructures

The search for new nanostructural topologies composed of elemental carbon is driven by technological opportunities as well as the need to understand the structure and evolution of carbon materials formed by planetary shock impact events and in laboratory syntheses. We describe two new families of diamond-graphene (diaphite) phases constructed from layered and bonded sp³ and sp² nanostructural units and provide a framework for classifying the members of this new class of materials. The nanocomposite structures are identified within both natural impact diamonds and laboratory-shocked samples and possess diffraction features that have previously been assigned to lonsdaleite and postgraphite phases. The diaphite nanocomposites represent a new class of high-performance carbon materials that are predicted to combine the superhard qualities of diamond with high fracture toughness and ductility enabled by the graphitic units and the atomically defined interfaces between the sp³- and sp²-bonded nanodomains.

Room-Temperature Defect Qubits in Ultrasmall Nanocrystals

There is an urgent quest for room-temperature qubits in nanometer-sized, ultrasmall nanocrystals for quantum biosensing, hyperpolarization of biomolecules, and quantum information processing. Thus far, the preparation of such qubits at the nanoscale has remained futile. Here, we present a synthesis method that avoids any interaction of the solid with high-energy particles and uses self-propagated high-temperature synthesis with a subsequent electrochemical method, the no-photon exciton generation chemistry to produce room-temperature qubits in ultrasmall nanocrystals of sizes down to 3 nm with high yield. We first create the host silicon carbide (SiC) crystallites by high-temperature synthesis and then apply wet chemical etching, which results in ultrasmall SiC nanocrystals and facilitates the creation of thermally stable defect qubits in the material. We demonstrate room-temperature optically detected magnetic resonance signal of divacancy qubits with 3.5% contrast from these nanoparticles with emission wavelengths falling in the second biological window (1000-1380 nm). These results constitute the formation of nonperturbative bioagents for quantum sensing and efficient hyperpolarization.

Extremely rapid isotropic irradiation of nanoparticles with ions generated in situ by a nuclear reaction

Energetic ions represent an important tool for the creation of controlled structural defects in solid nanomaterials. However, the current preparative irradiation techniques in accelerators show significant limitations in scaling-up, because only very thin layers of nanoparticles can be efficiently and homogeneously irradiated. Here, we show an easily scalable method for rapid irradiation of nanomaterials by light ions formed homogeneously in situ by a nuclear reaction. The target nanoparticles are embedded in B2O3 and placed in a neutron flux. Neutrons captured by 10B generate an isotropic flux of energetic α particles and 7Li+ ions that uniformly irradiates the surrounding nanoparticles. We produced 70 g of fluorescent nanodiamonds in an approximately 30-minute irradiation session, as well as fluorescent silicon carbide nanoparticles. Our method thus increased current preparative yields by a factor of 102-103. We envision that our technique will increase the production of ion-irradiated nanoparticles, facilitating their use in various applications.

Science and engineering of nanodiamond particle surfaces for biological applications (Review)

Diamond has outstanding bulk properties such as super hardness, chemical inertness, biocompatibility, luminescence, to name just a few. In the nanoworld, in order to exploit these outstanding bulk properties, the surfaces of nanodiamond (ND) particles must be accordingly engineered for specific applications. Modification of functional groups on the ND's surface and the corresponding electrostatic properties determine their colloidal stability in solvents, formation of photonic crystals, controlled adsorption and release of cargo molecules, conjugation with biomolecules and polymers, and cellular uptake. The optical activity of the luminescent color centers in NDs depends on their proximity to the ND's surface and surface termination. In order to engineer the ND surface, a fundamental understanding of the specific structural features and sp(3)-sp(2) phase transformations on the surface of ND particles is required. In the case of ND particles produced by detonation of carbon containing explosives (detonation ND), it should also be taken into account that its structure depends on the synthesis parameters and subsequent processing. Thus, for development of a strategy of surface modification of detonation ND, it is imperative to know details of its production. In this review, the authors discuss ND particles structure, strategies for surface modification, electrokinetic properties of NDs in suspensions, and conclude with a brief overview of the relevant bioapplications.

Laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy of various carbon nanostructures (GO, G and nanodiamond) in Rd6G solution

The effect of carbon nanostructures such as graphene (G), graphene oxide (GO) and nanodiamond (ND) on the spectral properties of Rhodamine 6G (Rd6G) emission due to the laser induced fluorescence (LIF) was investigated. It is shown that the addition of carbon nano- structures lead to sensible Red/Blue shifts which depend on the optical properties and surface functionality of nanoparticles. The current theories such as resonance energy transfer (RET), fluorescence quenching and photon propagation in scattering media support the experimental findings. Stern-Volmer curves for dynamic and static quenching of Rd6G molecules embedded with G, GO and nanodiamond are correlated with spectral shifts. Furthermore, time evolution of the spectral shift contributes to determine loading/release rates of fluorescent species with large S-parameter on the given nano-carriers.

A new phase transformation path from nanodiamond to new-diamond via an intermediate carbon onion

The investigation of carbon allotropes such as graphite, diamond, fullerenes, nanotubes and carbon onions and mechanisms that underlie their mutual phase transformation is a long-standing problem of great fundamental importance. New diamond (n-diamond) is a novel metastable phase of carbon with a face-centered cubic structure; it is called "new diamond" because many reflections in its electron diffraction pattern are similar to those of diamond. However, producing n-diamond from raw carbon materials has so far been challenging due to n-diamond's higher formation energy than that of diamond. Here, we, for the first time, demonstrate a new phase transformation path from nanodiamond to n-diamond via an intermediate carbon onion in the unique process of laser ablation in water, and establish that water plays a crucial role in the formation of n-diamond. When a laser irradiates colloidal suspensions of nanodiamonds at ambient pressure and room temperature, nanodiamonds are first transformed into carbon onions serving as an intermediate phase, and sequentially carbon onions are transformed into n-diamonds driven by the laser-induced high temperature and high pressure from the carbon onion as a nanoscaled temperature and pressure cell upon the process of laser irradiation in a liquid. This phase transformation not only provides new insight into the physical mechanism involved, but also offers one suitable opportunity for breaking controllable pathways between n-diamond and carbon allotropes such as diamond and carbon onions.

Reversible nanodiamond-carbon onion phase transformations

Because of their considerable science and technical interest, nanodiamonds (3-5 nm) are often used as a model to study the phase transformation between graphite and diamond. Here we demonstrated that a reversible nanodiamond-carbon onion phase transformation can become true when laser irradiates colloidal suspensions of nanodiamonds at the ambient temperature and pressure. Nanodiamonds are first transformed to carbon onions driven by the laser-induced high temperature in which an intermediary bucky diamond phase is observed. Sequentially, carbon onions are transformed back to nanodiamonds driven by the laser-induced high temperature and high pressure from carbon onions as nanoscaled temperature and pressure cell upon the laser irradiation process in liquid. Similarly, the same bucky diamond phase serving as an intermediate phase is found during the carbon onion-to-nanodiamond transition. To have a clear insight into the unique phase transformation the thermodynamic approaches on the nanoscale were proposed to elucidate the reversible phase transformation of nanodiamond-to-carbon onion-to-nanodiamond via an intermediary bucky diamond phase upon the laser irradiation in liquid. This reversible transition reveals a series of phase transformations between diamond and carbon allotropes, such as carbon onion and bucky diamond, having a general insight into the basic physics involved in these phase transformations. These results give a clue to the root of meteoritic nanodiamonds that are commonly found in primitive meteorites but their origin is puzzling and offers one suitable approach for breaking controllable pathways between diamond and carbon allotropes.

Coexistence Of Two Carbon Phases At Grain Boundaries In Polycrystalline Diamond

Energies and structures for two models of <001> tilt grain boundaries in diamond have been calculated using a many-body empirical bond-order potential. The first model contains all four-fold coordinate atoms. The second model is a two-phase system in which a graphitic region connects the diamond grains. At selected misorientation angles we predict that the two-phase structures are energetically competitive with the sp 3 bonded structures when the width of the graphitic regions exceed 10–15Å.

The chemistry of acetone at extreme conditions by density functional molecular dynamics simulations

Density functional molecular dynamics simulations have been performed in the NVT ensemble (moles (N), volume (V) and temperature (T)) on a system formed by ten acetone molecules at a temperature of 2000 K and density ρ = 1.322 g cm(-3). These conditions resemble closely those realized at the interface of an acetone vapor bubble in the early stages of supercompression experiments and result in an average pressure of 5 GPa. Two relevant reactive events occur during the simulation: the condensation of two acetone molecules to give hexane-2,5-dione and dihydrogen and the isomerization to the enolic propen-2-ol form. The mechanisms of these events are discussed in detail.

A spectroscopic and ab initio study of the formation of graphite and carbon nanotubes from thermal decomposition of silicon carbide

We report an experimental and first-principles study of the thermal decomposition of 6H-SiC wafers, yielding graphite on the Si-terminated face and carbon nanotubes on the C-terminated face. The asymmetry of the carbon structure formation mechanisms is rationalized in terms of the different termination geometries of the opposite SiC faces. First-principles modeling reveals that horizontal, xr-delocalized carbon structures form on the Si-terminated face. The bonding network geometry of the C-terminated face favors instead the formation of vertically oriented carbon structures, which can be interpreted as nanotube lateral wall precursors.

High-Pressure Microscopy

When bombarded with electrons, carbon nanotubes shrink, creating high internal pressures. The effect on molecules within the tubes can be studied at atomic resolution.

Scalable fine-grained parallelization of plane-wave-based ab initio molecular dynamics for large supercomputers

Many systems of great importance in material science, chemistry, solid-state physics, and biophysics require forces generated from an electronic structure calculation, as opposed to an empirically derived force law to describe their properties adequately. The use of such forces as input to Newton's equations of motion forms the basis of the ab initio molecular dynamics method, which is able to treat the dynamics of chemical bond-breaking and -forming events. However, a very large number of electronic structure calculations must be performed to compute an ab initio molecular dynamics trajectory, making the efficiency as well as the accuracy of the electronic structure representation critical issues. One efficient and accurate electronic structure method is the generalized gradient approximation to the Kohn-Sham density functional theory implemented using a plane-wave basis set and atomic pseudopotentials. The marriage of the gradient-corrected density functional approach with molecular dynamics, as pioneered by Car and Parrinello (R. Car and M. Parrinello, Phys Rev Lett 1985, 55, 2471), has been demonstrated to be capable of elucidating the atomic scale structure and dynamics underlying many complex systems at finite temperature. However, despite the relative efficiency of this approach, it has not been possible to obtain parallel scaling of the technique beyond several hundred processors on moderately sized systems using standard approaches. Consequently, the time scales that can be accessed and the degree of phase space sampling are severely limited. To take advantage of next generation computer platforms with thousands of processors such as IBM's BlueGene, a novel scalable parallelization strategy for Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics is developed using the concept of processor virtualization as embodied by the Charm++ parallel programming system. Charm++ allows the diverse elements of a Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics calculation to be interleaved with low latency such that unprecedented scaling is achieved. As a benchmark, a system of 32 water molecules, a common system size employed in the study of the aqueous solvation and chemistry of small molecules, is shown to scale on more than 1500 processors, which is impossible to achieve using standard approaches. This degree of parallel scaling is expected to open new opportunities for scientific inquiry.

An approach to developing a force field for molecular simulation of martensitic phase transitions between phases with subtle differences in energy and structure

d,l-Norleucine is one of only a few molecules whose crystals exhibit a martensitic or displacive-type phase transformation where the emerging phase shows a topotaxial relationship with the parent phase. The molecular mechanism for such phase transformations, particularly in molecular crystals, is not well understood. Crystalline phases that exhibit displacive phase transitions tend to be very similar in structure and energy. Consequently, the development of a force field for such phases is challenging as the phase behavior is determined by subtle differences in their lattice energies and entropies. We report an approach for developing a force field for such phases with an application to d,l-norleucine. The proposed procedure includes calculation of the phase diagram of the crystalline phases as a function of temperature to identify the best force field. d,l-Norleucine also presents an additional problem since in the solid state it exists as a zwitterion that is unstable in vacuo and therefore cannot be characterized using high-level ab initio calculations in the gas phase. However, a stable zwitterion could be obtained using Onsager's reaction-field continuum model for a solvent (SCRF) using both Hartree-Fock and density functional theory. A number of force fields and the various sets of partial charges obtained from the SCRF calculations were screened for their ability to reproduce the crystal structures of the two known phases, alpha and beta, of d,l-norleucine. Selected parameter sets were then employed in free energy minimizations to identify the best set on the basis of a correct prediction of the alpha-beta phase transition. The Williams' nonbonded parameters combined with partial charges from SCRF-Polarized Continuum Model calculation were found to reproduce the structures of the phases accurately and also maintained their stability in extended molecular dynamics simulations in the Parrinello-Rahman constant stress ensemble. Moreover, we were also able to successfully simulate the phase transformation of the beta- to the alpha-phase. The identified force field should enable detailed studies of the phase transformations exhibited by crystals of d,l-norleucine and hence enhance our understanding of martensitic-type transformations in molecular crystals.

Heat-induced transformation of nanodiamond into a tube-shaped fullerene: a molecular dynamics simulation

Heat-induced structural transformation in nanodiamond of diameter approximately 1.4 nm is investigated by tight-binding molecular dynamics simulations using the environment-dependent tight-binding carbon potential. The nanodiamond is found to transform into a tube-shaped fullerene via annealing. Three interesting mechanisms for promoting inner carbon atoms of the nanodiamond into the surface carbon atoms of the tubular structure are observed. The "flow-out" mechanism prevails at temperatures lower than 2500 K and the "direct adsorption" and "push-out" mechanisms are observed at higher temperatures.

Ultradispersity of diamond at the nanoscale

Nanometre-sized diamond has been found in meteorites, protoplanetary nebulae and interstellar dusts, as well as in residues of detonation and in diamond films. Remarkably, the size distribution of diamond nanoparticles seems to be peaked around 2-5 nm, and to be largely independent of preparation conditions. We have carried out ab initio calculations of the stability of nanodiamond as a function of surface hydrogen coverage and of size. We have found that at about 3 nm, and for a broad range of pressures and temperatures, particles with bare, reconstructed surfaces become thermodynamically more stable than those with hydrogenated surfaces, thus preventing the formation of larger grains. Our findings provide an explanation of the size distribution of extraterrestrial and of terrestrial nanodiamond found in ultradispersed and ultracrystalline diamond films. They also provide an atomistic structural model of these films, based on the topology and structure of 2-3-nm dimond clusters consisting of a diamond core surrounded by a fullerene-like carbon network.

Quantum confinement and fullerenelike surface reconstructions in nanodiamonds

We present x-ray absorption and emission experiments and ab initio calculations showing that the size of carbon diamond must be reduced to at least 2 nm, in order to observe an increase of its optical gap, at variance with Si and Ge where quantum confinement effects persist up to 6-7 nm. In addition, our calculations show that the surface of nanodiamond particles larger than approximately 1 nm reconstructs in a fullerenelike manner, giving rise to a new family of carbon clusters: bucky diamonds. Signatures of these surface reconstructions are compatible with pre-edge features observed in measured absorption spectra.

Theory for the ultrafast ablation of graphite films

The physical mechanisms for damage formation in graphite films induced by femtosecond laser pulses are analyzed using a microscopic electronic theory. We describe the nonequilibrium dynamics of electrons and lattice by performing molecular dynamics simulations on time-dependent potential energy surfaces. We show that graphite has the unique property of exhibiting two distinct laser-induced structural instabilities. For high absorbed energies ( >3.3 eV/atom) we find nonequilibrium melting followed by fast evaporation. For low intensities above the damage threshold ( >2.0 eV/atom) ablation occurs via removal of intact graphite sheets.

Laser-induced graphitization on a diamond (111) surface

We report an atomistic simulation study of laser-induced graphitization on the diamond (111) surface. Our simulation results show that the diamond to graphite transition occurs along different pathways depending on the length of the laser pulse being used. Under nanosecond or longer laser pulses, graphitization propagates vertically into bulk layers, leading to the formation of diamond-graphite interfaces after the laser treatment. By contrast, with femtosecond (0.2-0.5 ps) laser pulses, graphitization of the surface occurs layer by layer, resulting in a clean diamond surface after the ablation. This atomistic picture provides an explanation of recent experimental observations.

An ab initio approach to the understanding of cytochrome P450-ligand interactions

1. We describe the application of novel ab initio quantum mechanical methods to the study of ligand interactions with cytochrome P450cam (CYP101). 2. We find that our techniques accurately describe the transition from a low-spin state to a high-spin state of the haem Fe3+ on binding of a substrate. Furthermore, our methods correctly predict that a large fraction of low-spin character is retained on binding of an inhibitor. 3. We demonstrate the use of 'computational experiments' to elucidate key features of the mechanism of interaction. This leads us to identify a new mechanism for the suppression of the low- to high-spin transition on binding of an inhibitor, namely the shortening of the bond between the Fe atom and the coordinated S atom of the cysteine axial ligand.