US Patent 7820130 - Functionalized nanodiamond powder

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7820130.html

In terms of nanotechnology research William Marsh Rice University is probably most well known for developments relating to fullerene and carbon nanotubes but this patent from Rice instead deals with nanoparticulate diamonds and proposes a functionalized solution to provide uniform distribution of the diamond nanopowder. Claim 1 reads:

1. A functionalized nanodiamond powder,

wherein the surface of the functionalized nanodiamond powder is derivatized with fluorine;

wherein the functionalized nanodiamond powder comprises at least 5 atomic percent fluorine; and

wherein the functionalized diamond powder exhibits greater than 10-fold reduced particle agglomeration relative to pristine nanodiamond.