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 syn-thetic routes that enable to control the mutual organiza-tion and the crystalline features of the two components. The functional tests suggest that the cooperative interac-tion between gold and nanodiamond produce materials that represents an innovative concept for efficient, stable and biocompatible light-related applications.