Chemical functionalization provides the necessary tools to pick and modulate specific properties while retaining most of the essential characteristics of a material. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and diamond have been uniquely identified for excellent mechanical characteristics, an ultra-wide bandgap, and a common resistance to not easily succumb to chemical modification. To that extent, the fulcrum of this thesis hinges on chalking out novel pathways that leverage their properties while chemically modifying them through a highly facile, scalable, and economical route with specific end goals. The first half of the thesis accomplishes this through a solvothermal approach using Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) as medium in which transition metal atoms (Fe, Cu) were controllably and covalently anchored on a defect-rich h-BN. The Fe-hBN nanocomposites were used to comprehensively study the degradation of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA). On the other hand, the Cu-hBN nanocomposites were evaluated for lubrication studies Detailed bandgap measurements showed charge modulation thus cementing this approach as a sustainable option to modify h-BN.

The second half of the thesis explores a facile gas-phase fluorination approach to etch diamond crystals. In light of all the attention diamond has received for its device applications, its use in quantum optics and quantum information processing has gained an increased impetus due to its negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) defect centers. This work has upped the ante through a systematic study of correlating the fluorination conditions with the ensuing emission characteristics to form a new stable defect ensemble - Fluorine vacancy (FV) color centers in diamond, through this facile approach.

The dichotomy of breaking and forming the C-F bond in the thesis’ first and latter parts respectively, remains central to its vision of modulating nanomaterials via facile chemical functionalization routes towards specific use cases