Diamond-rich crystalline nanosheets seeded with a Langmuir monolayer of arachidic acid on water

RSC Adv. 2022 Sep 20;12(41):26575-26579. doi: 10.1039/d2ra04757h. eCollection 2022 Sep 16.

Abstract

The enigmatic self-assembling ability of nanodiamond (ND) particles has been discovered herein. Diamond-rich crystalline nanosheets with thickness of approximately ∼25 nm were grown from a Langmuir monolayer of arachidic acid (AA) at the interface between air and a dilute aqueous ND solution. Their fine rectangular shapes with uniform uniaxial birefringence indicate appreciable crystallinity, thus supporting that they are hydrated colloidal crystals of homogeneous ND particles.