Extraction of low-toxicity nanodiamonds from carbonaceous wastes

Being innocuous, nanodiamonds find huge applications in bioimaging, drug delivery and biomedical sensing. Their synthesis is generally carried out by detonation or shock wave methods. This article reports novel, economical and risk-free extraction of nanodiamonds from carbonaceous waste (smoke deposits of Hawan kund). Structural and morphological studies of extracted material revealed that the nanodiamonds have a size range of 4–5 nm and consists of sp3 core and sp2 shell. Extracted nanodiamonds contain various functional groups on its surface which make it suitable for various applications. Cytotoxicity assay revealed very less toxicity of extracted nanodiamonds, which makes them suitable candidate for biological applications. The proposed method offers the possibility of economical and detonation free production of nanodiamonds