In this thesis, a therapeutic effect of nanodiamonds (NDs) has been evidenced by investigating the role of NDs surface chemistry on their electronic properties. More precisely, the generation of reactive oxygen species from detonation NDs under ionizing radiation, which could improve current radiotherapy treatments, has been demonstrated. To this end, surface treatments facilitating electron transfer from NDs to their environment, namely hydrogenation and surface graphitization, were developed. Experimental conditions ensuring an efficient hydrogenation by hydrogen plasma were determined under ultrahigh vacuum, before being used to prepare large quantities of NDs in powder phase. A similar procedure was applied to the surface graphitization of NDs, performed by annealing under vacuum at high temperature. The impact of such surface treatments on the electronic interaction properties of NDs has been investigated under ambient air and after dispersion in water. These surface treatments induce a positive Zeta potential to NDs in water, which origin has been discussed. Finally, their interactions with human tumor cells were observed. Radiosensitization of tumor cells using NDs under gamma irradiation was demonstrated, opening new perspectives for NDs in nanomedicine.
