New carbon materials: biological applications of functionalized nanodiamond materials.

Nanoscale diamond particles have become an interesting material. Due to their inertness, small size and surface structure, they are well-suited for biological applications, such as labelling and drug delivery. Here we discuss the surface structure and functionalisation of diamond nanoparticles. Non-covalent as well as covalent grafting of bioactive moieties is possible, and first applications of fluorescent diamond nanoparticles are described.