Abstract
Nanocarbon materials have been synthesized by pulsed laser ablation (532 nm; 52 J/cm2; 7 ns; 10 Hz) of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite in adamantane-dissolved supercritical xenon at a temperature T = 290.2 K and pressure p = 5.86 MPa. Micro-Raman spectroscopy of the products revealed the presence of hydrocarbons possessing sp3 hybridized bonds also found in diamond structures. The synthesis of diamantane was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The same measurements also indicate the possible synthesis of other diamondoids up to octamantane. Thus, laser ablation in supercritical fluids is proposed as one practical method of synthesizing diamondoids.