Homogeneous nucleation of Nano-Diamond particles in Microwave microplasmas – NANODIAPLAS

Identifying the Physical and chemical local conditions and understanding the fundamental processes that permit homogeneous nucleation of diamond nanoparticle also called nanodiamonds (DNPs) in nonequilibrium MW microplasma in order to develop an efficient novel plasma process that insures gas phase synthesis of high quality and size controlled DNPs is the core objective of this proposal. The approach is to study multi-scale processes, i.e., molecular, particles and process scales, through plasma diagostics, simulations and coorelate the results with material characterization to have a clear understanding of the homogeneous nucleation pathways of different carbon nanostructures. The success of the project would pave way for designing the optimal process for producing high quality, high crystalline, size controlled DNPs.