Making high quality, uniform nanodiamonds without the explosions

Ultra-uniform nanodiamonds – which are not just glittery gemstones for jewellery but have important applications in areas like drug delivery, sensors and quantum computer processors – have been made with resorting to explosions. The work was presented at the American Chemical Society’s spring conference held virtually and in-person in San Diego.

The traditional way of growing nanodiamonds is by detonating an explosive like TNT in a sealed stainless-steel container. The blast turns the carbon in the explosive material into tiny diamond particles. However, this detonation is crude and difficult to control, and it produces diamonds of uneven size.