Nanodiamonds and gold nanoparticles: a promising couple for CRM-free photonics

The design and assembling of hybrid nanomaterials formed by the controlled aggregation of nanodiamonds (DND) and gold nanoparticles (AuNP) are presently a focus of the scientific community. The AuNP@DND systems are characterized by very attractive properties and by great potentialities for applications in optics and photonics. We present a review of some interesting AuNP@DND systems produced in our labs using synthetic routes that enable to control the mutual organization and the crystalline features of the two components. The functional tests suggest that the cooperative interaction between gold and nanodiamond produce materials that represents an innovative concept for efficient, stable and biocompatible light-related applications. (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)