Synthesis of twin-structured nanodiamond particles

Nanodiamonds represent a burgeoning class of carbon nanomaterials that possess favorable physical and chemical properties useful in abrasives, chemocatalysis, biomedicine, etc. Nowadays, the research on nanodiamonds has developed rapidly, with impressive control over particle size and morphology. However, the synthesis of nanodiamonds with ubiquitous nanotwinned substructure has yet to be realized. Here, we report the synthesis of nanotwin-structured nanodiamond particles from onion carbon precursors (with potassium chloride working as the isolation layer) under high pressure and high temperature conditions. The structural characterizations indicate that the synthetic nanodiamonds contain a nanotwinned substructure within individual particles, with an average twin thickness of ∼5 nm. The current work demonstrates an effective approach to nanodiamond particles with a nanotwinned substructure, which may promote applications in related areas.