Surface functionalization and biological applications of CVD diamond

Recent advances in biotechnology have fueled a need for well-defined, highly stable interfaces modified with a variety of biomolecules. Diamond is a particularly attractive material for biological applications because of its chemical stability and good biocompatibility. Since diamond can be made conductive by doping, it is also of interest for a variety of electrically based biological sensing applications that achieve improved performance through selective biological modification. Recent developments of diamond growth by chemical vapor deposition have enabled the preparation of large-area synthetic diamond films on different substrates at a reasonable cost. An as-grown diamond film is terminated by hydrogen on the surface and shows hydrophobic wetting characteristics, besides chemical inertness. This has created problems for attachment of many biomolecules that are inherently hydrophilic. The challenge to make diamond useful for in vivo applications thus lies in covalently linking biomolecules to such surfaces. Several breakthroughs have been accomplished over the last decade, and attaching biomolecules to diamond in a controlled and reproducible way can nowadays be achieved in several different manners and is the focus of this article.