Tritium labeling of detonation nanodiamonds

Abstract : For the first time, the radioactive labeling of detonation nanodiamonds was efficiently achieved using a tritium microwave plasma. According to our measurements, the total radioactivity reaches 9120 $\pm$ 120 $\mu$Ci mg−1, with 93% of 3H atoms tightly bonded to the surface and up to 7% embedded into the diamond core. Such 3H doping will ensure highly stable radiolabeled nanodiamonds, on which surface functionalization is still allowed. This breakthrough opens the way to biodistribution and pharmacokinetics studies of nanodiamonds, while this approach can be scalable to easily treat bulk quantities of nanodiamonds at low cost.