Superhard boron-carbon materials are of prime interest due to their non-oxidizing properties at high temperatures compared to diamond-based materials and their non-reactivity with ferrous metals under extreme conditions. In this work, evolutionary algorithms combined with density functional theory have been utilized to predict stable structures and properties for the boron-carbon system, including the elusive superhard BC5 compound. We report on the microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition on a silicon substrate of a series of composite materials containing amorphous boron-doped graphitic carbon, boron-doped diamond, and a cubic hard-phase with a boron-content as high as 7.7 at%. The nanoindentation hardness of these composite materials can be tailored from 8 GPa to as high as 62 GPa depending on the growth conditions. These materials have been characterized by electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and nanoindentation hardness, and the experimental results are compared with theoretical predictions. Our studies show that a significant amount of boron up to 7.7 at% can be accommodated in the cubic phase of diamond and its phonon modes and mechanical properties can be accurately modeled by theory. This cubic hard-phase can be incorporated into amorphous boron-carbon matrices to yield superhard materials with tunable hardness values.

Creatinine measurement in blood and urine is an important diagnostic test for assessing kidney health. In this study, a molecularly imprinted polymer was obtained by incorporating fluorescent nanodiamond into a creatinine-imprinted polyacrylamide hydrogel. The quenching of peak nanodiamond fluorescence was significantly higher in the creatinine-imprinted polymer compared to the non-imprinted polymer, indicative of higher creatinine affinity in the imprinted polymer. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and microscopic imaging was used to investigate the nature of chemical bonding and distribution of nanodiamonds inside the hydrogel network. Nanodiamonds bind strongly to the hydrogel network, but as aggregates with average particle diameter of 3.4 ± 1.8 µm and 3.1 ± 1.9 µm for the non-imprinted and molecularly imprinted polymer, respectively. Nanodiamond fluorescence from nitrogen-vacancy color centers (NV− and NV0) was also used to detect creatinine based on nanodiamond-creatinine surface charge interaction. Results show a 15% decrease of NV−/NV0 emission ratio for the creatinine-imprinted polymer compared to the non-imprinted polymer, and are explained in terms of changes in the near-surface band structure of diamond with addition of creatinine. With further improvement of sensor design to better disperse nanodiamond within the hydrogel, fluorescent sensing from nitrogen-vacancy centers is expected to yield higher sensitivity with a longer range (Coulombic) interaction to imprinted sites than that for a sensor based on acceptor/donor resonance energy transfer.

Pressure induced densification and compression of a reprocessed sample of borosilicate glass has been studied by X-ray radiography and energy dispersive X-ray diffraction using a Paris-Edinburgh (PE) press at a synchrotron X-ray source. The reprocessing of a commercial borosilicate glass was carried out by cyclical melting and cooling. Gold foil pressure markers were used to obtain the sample pressure by X-ray diffraction using its known equation of state, while X-ray radiography provided a direct measure of the sample volume at high pressure. The X-ray radiography method for volume measurements at high pressures was validated for a known sample of pure α-Iron to 6.3 GPa. A sample of reprocessed borosilicate glass was compressed to 11.4 GPa using the PE cell, and the flotation density of pressure recovered sample was measured to be 2.755 gm/cc, showing an increase in density of 24%, as compared to the starting sample. The initial compression of the reprocessed borosilicate glass measured by X-ray radiography resulted in a bulk modulus of 30.3 GPa in good agreement with the 32.9 GPa value derived from the known elastic constants. This method can be applied to variety of amorphous materials under high pressures.

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