Electron induced functionalization of diamond by small organic groups

In this work, we show that the interaction of low energy electrons with CH3CN molecules condensed on hydrogenated diamond substrates induces functionalization of the diamond. The process is discussed in terms of electron dissociation mechanisms of acetonitrile molecules and interaction of the subsequent fragments with the substrate. At 2 eV incident electron energy, the dissociative electron attachment reaction is alone operative, so that it is possible to demonstrate that these electrons induce exclusively covalent attachment of about 1 ML of H2CCN fragments on diamond through C-diam-C and C-diam-N linkages and to propose a description of the microscopic steps involved in the process.