Collaborative Research: Nanodiamond Particle Fabrication by Confined Laser Shock Detonation for Drug Delivery and Other Applications

纳米金刚石，或纳米大小的金刚石颗粒，已经被广泛探索作为药物输送载体和生物成像剂，用于从肿瘤学到感染再到再生医学的生物医学治疗。然而，制造医疗质量的纳米金刚石是困难的、昂贵的和能源密集型的。现有的纳米金刚石制造方法通常依赖于化学爆炸过程，这一过程存在可控性差、实验设置复杂和安全问题。该奖项支持基础研究，为开发一种简单且经济高效的纳米制造工艺提供所需的知识，以在环境条件下制造纳米金刚石。利用这种简单可行的纳米金刚石制造途径，可以以低成本制造出许多用于生物医学、电子和光学应用的复杂纳米金刚石器件。这种能力影响着美国的关键产业，从而促进了国家的繁荣和安全。研究结果将被整合到一本名为《纳米钻石诺拉和尼尔》的漫画书中，旨在吸引K-12学生。此外，该项目为本科生和研究生提供了一个综合培训平台，并促进扩大妇女和代表性不足的学生参与研究。本项目旨在为纳米金刚石的制备建立一种新的纳米制造策略。假设在纳秒脉冲激光冲击处理中，激光诱导等离子体可以提供足够的能量输入和持续时间来促进石墨到金刚石的相变。为了验证这一假设，计划采用受限激光冲击爆轰方法，通过利用高能激光-物质相互作用现象，在室温和露天条件下实现纳米金刚石的可扩展纳米制造。主要的研究目标是建立一个基本的机制，涉及到限制激光冲击引爆过程，负责纳米金刚石的生长。在亚利桑那州立大学和UNR进行的第一性原理建模和分子动力学模拟，有助于理解激光-石墨相互作用和导致石墨到金刚石相变的等离子体动力学。通过亚利桑那州立大学和加州大学洛杉矶分校的合作，对激光制造的纳米金刚石的生物相容性进行了评估，以展示其在药物输送和生物成像方面的潜在应用。该项目促进了基于激光的纳米制造和纳米材料的创新。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nanodiamonds, or nanosized diamond particles, have been widely explored as drug delivery vehicles and bio-imaging agents for biomedical treatments ranging from oncology to infection to regenerative medicine. However, the manufacture of medical quality nanodiamonds is difficult, costly, and energy intensive. The existing methods for nanodiamond fabrication often rely on a chemical detonation process, which suffers from poor controllability, complex experimental set-ups, and safety issues. This award supports fundamental research to provide knowledge needed for the development of a simple and cost-effective nanomanufacturing process to fabricate nanodiamonds under ambient conditions. Using this easy and viable route for nanodiamond fabrication, many complex nanodiamond-based devices for biomedical, electronics, and optics applications can be built at low cost. Such a capability impacts key U.S. industries thus enhancing national prosperity and security. The research results will be integrated into a comic book -- Nanodiamond Nora and Neal -- targeted at engaging K-12 students. In addition, this project provides an integrated training platform for undergraduate and graduate students, and promotes broadening participation of women and underrepresented students in research.This project aims to establish a new nanomanufacturing strategy for nanodiamond fabrication. It is hypothesized that the laser-induced plasma in the nanosecond pulsed laser shock processing, can provide sufficient energy input and duration to promote the graphite-to-diamond phase transition. To test this hypothesis, a confined laser shock detonation approach is planned to realize the scalable nanomanufacturing of nanodiamonds at room-temperature and in open air, through utilizing high-energy laser-matter interaction phenomena. The major research objective is to establish a fundamental understanding of mechanisms involved in the confined laser shock detonation process that are responsible for the growth of nanodiamonds. First-principles modeling and molecular dynamics simulations performed at ASU and UNR, help understand the laser-graphite interactions and the plasma dynamics that lead to the graphite-to-diamond phase transition. Biocompatibility of laser-fabricated nanodiamonds is evaluated through collaboration between ASU and UCLA to demonstrate potential applications in drug delivery and bio-imaging. This project contributes to advances in laser-based nanomanufacturing and innovations in nanomaterials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.