Confirmation of the Electrostatic Self-Assembly of Nanodiamonds

TL;DR

This study confirms that electrostatic interactions are the primary mechanism behind the self-assembly and aggregation of 5 nm nanodiamonds, using advanced microscopy and simulations.

Contribution

The paper provides direct experimental and computational evidence supporting electrostatic self-assembly of nanodiamonds, clarifying the mechanism behind their aggregation.

Findings

Electrostatic interactions are confirmed as the main cause of nanodiamond aggregation.

High-resolution electron microscopy visualizes inter-particle interfaces.

Simulations support the electrostatic self-assembly mechanism.

Abstract

A reliable explanation for the underlying mechanism responsible for the persistent aggregation and self-assembly of colloidal 5 nm diamond nanoparticles is critical to the development of nanodiamond-based technologies. Although a number of mechanisms have been proposed, validation has been hindered by the inherent difficulty associated with the identification and characterisation of the inter-particle interfaces. In this paper we present results of high resolution aberration corrected electron microscopy and complementary computer simulations to explicate the features involved, and confirm the electrostatic interaction mechanism as the most probable cause for the formation of agglutinates and agglomerates of primary particles.