Nitrogen Fixation and Biological Behavior of Nanodiamond Colloidal Solutions.

Detonation-produced nanodiamond, both as a powder (with adsorbed water) and especially when suspended in an aqueous colloid, can support the growth (both aerobic and anaerobic) of bacteria and fungi. These were isolated and identified by microbiological methods, optical and electron microscopy, as species of Penicillium, Purpureocillium, Beaveria, Trichoderma and Aspergillus genera. The C : N molar ratio of the developing fibers (comprising fungal mycelia with attached bacteria and entrapped nanodiamond) decreased from 25 to 11 between the 1 and 10 week of incubation (cf.