Detonation synthesis of nanodiamonds: use of these nanoparticles in pyrotechnics

Nano-sized monocrystalline diamond particles have been prepared by explosives detonation at the Institut franco-allemand de recherches de Saint-Louis (ISL). The sp(3) carbon composing the diamond crystalline network comes from the decomposition of the explosive charge which is slightly under-oxygenated. The pressure required to produce diamond is generated in the shock-wave detonation. From an experimental point of view, the explosion takes place in a steel tank, specifically designed for this purpose. The nanodiamonds are separated from the recovered detonation products by several physical and chemical treatments used to remove the metallic impurities as well as the non-diamond carbonaceous phases. Several applications of detonation nanodiamonds are reported in the literature. Some of these applications are the ultrafine polishing, the co-electroplating with metallic substances, the heterogeneous catalysis and the proteins extraction. However, the use of nanodiamond as reducing agent in energetic explosive compositions has never been reported. The researches performed at the ISL on this topic have shown that this kind of explosive exhibits specific characteristics which can be correlated to the intrinsic physico-chemical properties of diamond.