ABSTRACT
Nanodiamonds and carbon-rich nanomaterials are an important class in the family of nanocarbons which revolutionized research at the end of the 20th century owing to their biocompatibility and remarkable material properties. Unlike the other members of the nanocarbon family with sp2 carbon, nanodiamonds are unique structures in the size range of 3–5 nm with sp3-bonded carbon. These sp3-bonded carbons in nanodiamonds impart several amazing properties such as mechanical, biological, chemical, etc., characteristics, which enables them to be a promising alternative in diverse applications. Although nanodiamonds have largely found applications in abrasive pastes and wear-resistant coatings, their chemical inertness and the diversity in their surface modification options has promised their applicability as a biocompatible material in numerous biomedical applications, such as drug delivery, biomarkers, biosensors, etc.
Organic nanoparticles have emerged as key participants in the development of modern pharmaceutical and biomedical processes. They are essentially carbon-rich organic compounds or their self-assemblies that fall in the nanometer range. Micelles, vesicles, liposomes, dendrimers, polymerosomes, polymer conjugates, polymeric nanoparticles, and lipid nanoparticles are some examples of organic nanoparticles. These organic nanoparticles find diverse applications, especially in the fields of catalysis and biomedical science. The biodegradability of the constituent compounds of organic nanoparticles has empowered their hold as potent materials over other available approaches for applications such as drug solubility, drug carrying, and cell imaging. The regime of carbon-based nanomaterials in the research field has been strengthened with the advent of nanodiamonds and organic nanoparticles, as it has provided scientists with materials possessing marvelous properties and potential for further surface modifications according to the requirements of the applications. Sensing the importance of these fancy members of the nanocarbon family, the current chapter deals with their synthetic methods of preparation along with the available techniques and approaches for surface modifications. In light of the exclusive properties of nanodiamonds and organic nanoparticles, this chapter briefly highlights the applications of nanodiamonds and organic nanoparticles in various fields. A detailed account of various synthetic approaches to synthesize and modify different types of nanodiamonds and organic nanoparticles has been given in this chapter.
