Department of Materials Science, University of Patras, 26504 Rio Patras, Greece, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 48 Vass. Constantinou Avenue, 116 35 Athens, Greece, Institut de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire, UPR9021 CNRS, Immunologie et Chimie Therapeutiques, 67084 Strasbourg, France, and Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Universita di Trieste, Piazzale Europa 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy

Chemistry of Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotube–polymer composites: Chemistry, processing, mechanical and electrical properties

Transparent electrodes are a necessary component in many modern devices such as touch screens, LCDs, OLEDs, and solar cells, all of which are growing in demand. Traditionally, this role has been well served by doped metal oxides, the most common of which is indium tin oxide, or ITO. Recently, advances in nano-materials research have opened the door for other transparent conductive materials, each with unique properties. These include CNTs, graphene, metal nanowires, and printable metal grids. This review will explore the materials properties of transparent conductors, covering traditional metal oxides and conductive polymers initially, but with a focus on current developments in nano-material coatings. Electronic, optical, and mechanical properties of each material will be discussed, as well as suitability for various applications.

Emerging Transparent Electrodes Based on Thin Films of Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene, and Metallic Nanostructures

http://www.nanomedicinelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2ndslide05.pdf

Applications of carbon nanotubes in drug delivery

Carbon nanotubes can be functionalized via amidation and esterification of the nanotube-bound carboxylic acids. The solubility of these functionalized carbon nanotubes makes it possible to characterize and study the properties of carbon nanotubes using solution-based techniques. Representative results concerning the solubility, dispersion, defunctionalization, and optical properties of the functionalized carbon nanotubes are presented. Several examples for the use of functionalized carbon nanotubes in the fabrication of polymeric carbon nanocomposites, the probing of nanotube-molecule interactions, and the conjugation with biological species are highlighted and discussed.

Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes: Properties and Applications

Bioapplications of carbon nanotubes have been predicted and explored ever since the discovery of these one-dimensional carbon allotropes. Indeed, carbon nanotubes have many interesting and unique properties potentially useful in a variety of biological and biomedical systems and devices. Significant progress has been made in the effort to overcome some of the fundamental and technical barriers toward bioapplications, especially on issues concerning the aqueous solubility and biocompatibility of carbon nanotubes and on the design and fabrication of prototype biosensors. In this article we take a comprehensive look at the advances in this fast-moving and exciting research field. We review the current status of available methodologies for the aqueous dispersion and solubilization of carbon nanotubes, discuss the results on modifications of carbon nanotubes with various biological and bioactive species, and highlight some of the recent achievements in the fabrication and evaluation of carbon nanotube-based bioanalytical devices.

Advances toward bioapplications of carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes are functionalized by bovine serum albumin (BSA) proteins via diimide-activated amidation under ambient conditions. The nanotube-BSA conjugates thus obtained are highly water-soluble, forming dark-colored aqueous solutions. Results from characterizations using atomic force microscopy (AFM), thermal gravimetric analysis, Raman, and gel electrophoresis show that the conjugate samples indeed contain both carbon nanotubes and BSA proteins and that the protein species are intimately associated with the nanotubes. Bioactivities of the nanotube-bound proteins are evaluated using the total protein micro-determination assay (the modified Lowry procedure). The results show that the overwhelming majority (∼90%) of the protein species in the nanotube-BSA conjugates remain bioactive.

Attaching Proteins to Carbon Nanotubes via Diimide-Activated Amidation

Carbon nanotubes were solubilized via functionalization with poly(propionylethylenimine-co-ethylenimine). The diimide-activated amidation reaction for the functionalization was found to be signific...

Sonication-Assisted Functionalization and Solubilization of Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes have been widely investigated for their unique combination of properties including their one-dimensional hollow structure, high-strength with flexibility, large surface area, and chemical stability. 2] There has also been growing interest in their potential biological applications, especially in biosensors and vaccineand drug-delivery systems. 4] Both singleand multiple-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT and MWNT, respectively) can be modified and conjugated with bioactive molecules and biological species including carbohydrates, 6] amino acids and peptides, nucleic acids and analogues, and proteins. We have previously demonstrated that SWNTs are naturally protein affinitive in water and that covalent modification of the nanotubes with proteins gives stable conjugation and excellent aqueous solubility of the conjugates. Here we report the preparation of immuno-carbon nanotubes by conjugating pathogen-specific antibodies to the SWNTs that are functionalized with bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein (Scheme 1) and, for the first time, the recognition of target pathogen cells by the immuno-carbon nanotubes via antibody–antigen interactions in physiological environment.

Shelby Taylor

Papers

Advances toward bioapplications of carbon nanotubes

Attaching Proteins to Carbon Nanotubes via Diimide-Activated Amidation

Sonication-Assisted Functionalization and Solubilization of Carbon Nanotubes

Immuno-carbon nanotubes and recognition of pathogens.

Luminescence anisotropy of functionalized carbon nanotubes in solution