Sample preparation considerations for surface and crystalline properties and ecotoxicity of bare and silica-coated magnetite nanoparticles

Magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles (NPs) have widely used in various fields, including in medicine, due to their (super)paramagnetic properties. This requires a thorough evaluation of their possible hazardous effects. However, there is no standard procedure for the preparation of oxidation-prone NPs (such as magnetite) before subjecting them to biological assays. In this study we used Fe₃O₄ NPs (bare and silica-coated) as test samples to compare different preparation methods (ultrasound, centrifugation and filteration of NPs suspensions) based on X-ray and dynamic light scattering analysis and evaluation of microstructure and surface charge. After oxidation and functionalization, all samples retained their superparamagnetic behaviour. The toxicity of NP suspensions obtained by the methods described for Paramecium caudatum ciliates and Sinapis alba plants was evaluated.

The charge and surface reactivity of magnetite nanoparticles can be affected by the different separation methods leading to their toxicity changes.

Synthetic strategies in construction of organic macromolecular carrier-drug conjugates

Many metabolic inhibitors, considered potential antimicrobial or anticancer drug candidates, exhibit very limited ability to cross the biological membranes of target cells. The restricted cellular penetration of those molecules is often due to their highhydrophilicity. One of the possible solutions to this problem is a conjugation of an inhibitor with a molecular organic nanocarrier. The conjugate thus formed should be able to penetrate the membrane(s) by direct translocation, endocytosis or active transport mechanisms and once internalized, the active component could reach its intracellular target, either after release from the conjugate or in an intact form. Several such nanocarriers have been proposed so far, including macromolecular systems, carbon nanotubes and dendrimers. Herein, we present a comprehensive review of the current status of rational design and synthesis of macromolecular organic nanocarrier-drug conjugates, with special attention focused on the mode of coupling of a nanocarrier moiety with a "cargo" molecule through linking fragments of non-cleavable or cleavable type.

Liquid-Phase Exfoliation of Graphene: An Overview on Exfoliation Media, Techniques, and Challenges

Graphene, a two-dimensional (2D) carbon nanomaterial, has attracted worldwide attention owing to its fascinating properties. One of critical bottlenecks on some important classes of applications, such as printed electronics, conductive coatings, and composite fillers, is the lack of industrial-scale methods to produce high-quality graphene in the form of liquid suspensions, inks, or dispersions. Since 2008, when liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) of graphene via sonication was initiated, huge progress has been made in the past decade. This review highlights the latest progress on the successful preparation of graphene in various media, including organic solvents, ionic liquids, water/polymer or surfactant solutions, and some other green dispersants. The techniques of LPE, namely sonication, high-shear mixing, and microfluidization are reviewed subsequently. Moreover, several typical devices of high-shear mixing and exfoliation mechanisms are introduced in detail. Finally, we give perspectives on future research directions for the development of green exfoliation media and efficient techniques for producing high-quality graphene. This systematic exploratory study of LPE will potentially pave the way for the scalable production of graphene, which can be also applied to produce other 2D layered materials, such as BN, MoS₂, WS₂, etc.

A high precision method for length-based separation of carbon nanotubes using bio-conjugation, SDS-PAGE and silver staining

Parametric separation of carbon nanotubes, especially based on their length is a challenge for a number of nano-tech researchers. We demonstrate a method to combine bio-conjugation, SDS-PAGE, and silver staining in order to separate carbon nanotubes on the basis of length. Egg-white lysozyme, conjugated covalently onto the single-walled carbon nanotubes surfaces using carbodiimide method. The proposed conjugation of a biomolecule onto the carbon nanotubes surfaces is a novel idea and a significant step forward for creating an indicator for length-based carbon nanotubes separation. The conjugation step was followed by SDS-PAGE and the nanotube fragments were precisely visualized using silver staining. This high precision, inexpensive, rapid and simple separation method obviates the need for centrifugation, additional chemical analyses, and expensive spectroscopic techniques such as Raman spectroscopy to visualize carbon nanotube bands. In this method, we measured the length of nanotubes using different image analysis techniques which is based on a simplified hydrodynamic model. The method has high precision and resolution and is effective in separating the nanotubes by length which would be a valuable quality control tool for the manufacture of carbon nanotubes of specific lengths in bulk quantities. To this end, we were also able to measure the carbon nanotubes of different length, produced from different sonication time intervals.

Chiral-index resolved length mapping of carbon nanotubes in solution using electric-field induced differential absorption spectroscopy

The length of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is an important metric for the integration of SWCNTs into devices and for the performance of SWCNT-based electronic or optoelectronic applications. In this work we propose a rather simple method based on electric-field induced differential absorption spectroscopy to measure the chiral-index-resolved average length of SWCNTs in dispersions. The method takes advantage of the electric-field induced length-dependent dipole moment of nanotubes and has been verified and calibrated by atomic force microscopy. This method not only provides a low cost, in situ approach for length measurements of SWCNTs in dispersion, but due to the sensitivity of the method to the SWCNT chiral index, the chiral index dependent average length of fractions obtained by chromatographic sorting can also be derived. Also, the determination of the chiral-index resolved length distribution seems to be possible using this method.

Purification of Nanoparticles by Size and Shape

Producing monodisperse nanoparticles is essential to ensure consistency in biological experiments and to enable a smooth translation into the clinic. Purification of samples into discrete sizes and shapes may not only improve sample quality, but also provide us with the tools to understand which physical properties of nanoparticles are beneficial for a drug delivery vector. In this study, using polymersomes as a model system, we explore four techniques for purifying pre-formed nanoparticles into discrete fractions based on their size, shape or density. We show that these techniques can successfully separate polymersomes into monodisperse fractions.

Quantification of Carbon Nanotubes in Environmental Matrices: Current Capabilities, Case Studies, and Future Prospects

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have numerous exciting potential applications and some that have reached commercialization. As such, quantitative measurements of CNTs in key environmental matrices (water, soil, sediment, and biological tissues) are needed to address concerns about their potential environmental and human health risks and to inform application development. However, standard methods for CNT quantification are not yet available. We systematically and critically review each component of the current methods for CNT quantification including CNT extraction approaches, potential biases, limits of detection, and potential for standardization. This review reveals that many of the techniques with the lowest detection limits require uncommon equipment or expertise, and thus, they are not frequently accessible. Additionally, changes to the CNTs (e.g., agglomeration) after environmental release and matrix effects can cause biases for many of the techniques, and biasing factors vary among the techniques. Five case studies are provided to illustrate how to use this information to inform responses to real-world scenarios such as monitoring potential CNT discharge into a river or ecotoxicity testing by a testing laboratory. Overall, substantial progress has been made in improving CNT quantification during the past ten years, but additional work is needed for standardization, development of extraction techniques from complex matrices, and multimethod comparisons of standard samples to reveal the comparability of techniques.

Non-covalent polymer wrapping of carbon nanotubes and the role of wrapped polymers as functional dispersants

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been recognized as a promising material in a wide range of applications from biotechnology to energy-related devices. However, the poor solubility in aqueous and organic solvents hindered the applications of CNTs. As studies have progressed, the methodology for CNT dispersion was established. In this methodology, the key issue is to covalently or non-covalently functionalize the surfaces of the CNTs with a dispersant. Among the various types of dispersions, polymer wrapping through non-covalent interactions is attractive in terms of the stability and homogeneity of the functionalization. Recently, by taking advantage of their stability, the wrapped-polymers have been utilized to support and/or reinforce the unique functionality of the CNTs, leading to the development of high-performance devices. In this review, various polymer wrapping approaches, together with the applications of the polymer-wrapped CNTs, are summarized.

A green technique to prepare uniform amine capped multi-walled carbon nanotubes to fabricate high strength, protein resistant polymer nanocomposites

Efficient amine grafting on MWCNTs by double UV-ozone induced grafting, and its role in biomaterials.

Length fractionation of boron nitride nanotubes using creamed oil-in-water emulsions

The fractionation by length of multiwalled boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) was achieved by emulsification and creaming of an oil/water/surfactant mixture. The length separation is based on the fact that nanoparticle-coated oil droplets polydisperse in size move toward the upper surface or the bottom of an emulsified mixture depending on the density of the droplets, such that droplets of different sizes are located at different heights. By sampling heightwise an unstable hexane/water/Tween 20/BNNT (1-20 μm long) emulsion, we observed that the lengths of the BNNTs adsorbed on the droplets display a strong correlation with the droplets sizes, thus leading to selective separation of the BNNT lengths, as confirmed by dark-field optical imaging and dynamic light scattering. This method may potentially be extended to other high aspect ratio nanomaterials exhibiting emulsification properties similar to those of BNNTs.

Characterization of carbon nanotube dispersions in solutions of bile salts and derivatives containing aromatic substituents

Bile salts (BS) are known to solubilize high weight fractions of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in aqueous solutions. Here, the efficiency of derivatives of bile salts (BSDs) containing aromatic substituents in dispersing single-wall CNTs (SWCNTs) has been investigated in order to check whether the presence of aromatic residues, because of their affinity toward carbon nanotube surfaces, determines improvements of the BS dispersion efficiency (DE). Electric arc and CoMoCAT SWCNTs were analyzed. The results, reported for the two surfactant concentrations of 0.06 and 1.0 wt %, show that the DE of BSDs depends on the position, orientation, and structure of the introduced aromatic residues. In the case of the CoMoCAT SWCNTs, at low surfactant concentration a DE improvement is observed in BSDs where the aromatic residue is linked either to carbon 3, located on the rigid four-ring system, or to the side chain. For the latter, this improvement is also enhanced in double-charge derivatives and kept at high surfactant concentration. It was also observed that at low concentrations of surfactant, the DE values of BSs and BSDs are usually larger than those of the more conventional detergent sodium dodecylsulfate.

Carbon nanotubes: properties, synthesis, purification, and medical applications

Current discoveries of different forms of carbon nanostructures have motivated research on their applications in various fields. They hold promise for applications in medicine, gene, and drug delivery areas. Many different production methods for carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been introduced; functionalization, filling, doping, and chemical modification have been achieved, and characterization, separation, and manipulation of individual CNTs are now possible. Parameters such as structure, surface area, surface charge, size distribution, surface chemistry, and agglomeration state as well as purity of the samples have considerable impact on the reactivity of carbon nanotubes. Otherwise, the strength and flexibility of carbon nanotubes make them of potential use in controlling other nanoscale structures, which suggests they will have a significant role in nanotechnology engineering.

Large area films of alternating graphene-carbon nanotube layers processed in water

We report the preparation of hybrid paperlike films consisting of alternating layers of graphene (or graphene oxide) and different types of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (N-doped MWNTs, B-doped MWNTs, and pristine MWNTs). We used an efficient self-assembly method in which nanotubes were functionalized with cationic polyelectrolytes in order to make them dispersible in water, and subsequently these suspensions were mixed with graphene oxide (GO) suspensions, and the films were formed by casting/evaporation processes. The electronic properties of these films (as produced and thermally reduced) were characterized, and we found electrical resistivities as low as 3 × 10(-4) Ω cm. Furthermore, we observed that these films could be used as electron field emission sources with extraordinary efficiencies; threshold electric field of ca. 0.55 V/μm, β factor as high as of 15.19 × 10(3), and operating currents up to 220 μA. These values are significantly enhanced when compared to previous reports in the literature for other carbon nanostructured filmlike materials. We believe these hybrid foils could find other applications as scaffolds for tissue regeneration, thermal and conducting papers, and laminate composites with epoxy resins.

Carbon nanotubes as vaccine scaffolds

Carbon nanotubes display characteristics that are potentially useful in their development as scaffolds for vaccine compositions. These features include stability in vivo, lack of intrinsic immunogenicity, low toxicity, and the ability to be appended with multiple copies of antigens. In addition, the particulate nature of carbon nanotubes and their unusual properties of rapid entry into antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells, make them especially useful as carriers of antigens. Early attempts demonstrating carbon nanotube-based vaccines can be used in both infectious disease settings and cancer are promising.

Polymer nanocomposites: structure, interaction, and functionality

This feature article discusses the main factors determining the properties of polymer nanocomposites with special attention paid to structure and interactions. Usually more complicated structure develops in nanocomposites than in traditional particulate filled polymers, and that is especially valid for composites prepared from plate-like nanofillers. Besides the usually assumed exfoliated/intercalated morphology, i.e. individual platelets and tactoids, such nanocomposites often contain large particles, and a network structure developing at large extent of exfoliation. Aggregation and orientation are the most important structural phenomena in nanotube or nanofiber reinforced composites, and ag-gregation is a major problem also in composites prepared with spherical particles. The surface characteristics of nanofillers and interactions are rarely determined or known; the related problems are discussed in the paper in detail. The surface of these reinforcements is modified practically always. The goal of the modification is to improve dispersion and/or adhesion in nanotube and spherical particle reinforced composites, and to help exfoliation in nanocomposites containing platelets. However, modification decreases surface energy often leading to decreased interaction with the matrix. Very limited information exists about interphase formation and the properties of the interphase in nanocomposites, although they must influence properties considerably. The properties of nanocomposites are usually far from the expectations, the main reason being insufficient homogeneity, undefined structure and improper adhesion. In spite of considerable difficulties nanocomposites have great potentials especially in functional applications. Several nanocomposite products are already used in industrial practice demonstrated by a few examples in the article.

Photoluminescence from SWCNT/Cu Hybrid Nanostructure Synthesized by a Soft Chemical Route

We report a simple wet chemical technique to coat single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with Cu nanoparticles. The SWCNT/Cu hybrid nanostructure has been characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) study, and Raman spectroscopy. Characteristic optical properties of the nanohybrid structure have been identified through UV-Vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. When excited by a radiation of 400 nm wavelength, PL emission in the visible range of 480–620 nm was observed due to charge transfer. This property may be exploited in photovoltaic cells, solar energy conversion, and sensor devices.

Multi-wall carbon nanotube aqueous dispersion monitoring by using A4F-UV-MALS

In this work, the potentiality of asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (A4F) hyphenated to UV detector and multi-angle light scattering (MALS) was investigated for accurately determining multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) length and its corresponding dispersion state in aqueous medium. Fractionation key parameters were studied to obtain a method robust enough for heterogeneous sample characterization. The main A4F conditions were 10(-5) mL min(-1) NH(4)NO(3), elution flow of 1 mL min(-1), and cross flow of 2 mL min(-1). The recovery was found to be (94 ± 2)%. Online MALS analysis of eluted MWCNT suspension was performed to obtain length distribution. The length measurements were performed with a 4% relative standard deviation, and the length values were shown to be in accordance with expected ones. The capabilities of A4F-UV-MALS to size characterize various MWCNT samples and differentiate them according to their manufacturing process were evaluated by monitoring ball-milled MWCNT and MWCNT dispersions. The corresponding length distributions were found to be over 150-650 and 150-1,156 nm, respectively. A4F-UV-MALS was also used to evaluate MWCNT dispersion state in aqueous medium according to the surfactant concentration and sonication energy involved in the preparation of the dispersions. More especially, the presence or absence of aggregates, number and size of different populations, as well as size distributions were determined. A sodium dodecyl sulfate concentration of 15 to 30 mmol L(-1) and a sonication energy ranged over 20-30 kJ allow obtaining an optimal MWCNT dispersion. It is especially valuable for studying nanomaterials and checking their manufacturing processes, size characterization being always of high importance.

Carbon nanotubes: engineering biomedical applications

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cylinder-shaped allotropic forms of carbon, most widely produced under chemical vapor deposition. They possess astounding chemical, electronic, mechanical, and optical properties. Being among the most promising materials in nanotechnology, they are also likely to revolutionize medicine. Among other biomedical applications, after proper functionalization carbon nanotubes can be transformed into sophisticated biosensing and biocompatible drug-delivery systems, for specific targeting and elimination of tumor cells. This chapter provides an introduction to the chemical and electronic structure and properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes, followed by a description of the main synthesis and post-synthesis methods. These sections allow the reader to become familiar with the specific characteristics of these materials and the manner in which these properties may be dependent on the specific synthesis and post-synthesis processes. The chapter ends with a review of the current biomedical applications of carbon nanotubes, highlighting successes and challenges.

Determination of the metallic/semiconducting ratio in bulk single-wall carbon nanotube samples by cobalt porphyrin probe electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

A simple and quantitative, self-calibrating spectroscopic technique for the determination of the ratio of metallic to semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in a bulk sample is presented. The technique is based on the measurement of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum of the SWCNT sample to which cobalt(II)octaethylporphyrin (CoOEP) probe molecules have been added. This yields signals from both CoOEP molecules on metallic and on semiconducting tubes, which are easily distinguished and accurately characterized in this work. By applying this technique to a variety of SWCNT samples produced by different synthesis methods, it is shown that these signals for metallic and semiconducting tubes are independent of other factors such as tube length, defect density, and diameter, allowing the intensities of both signals for arbitrary samples to be retrieved by a straightforward least-squares regression. The technique is self-calibrating in that the EPR intensity can be directly related to the number of spins (number of CoOEP probe molecules), and as the adsorption of the CoOEP molecules is itself found to be unbiased toward metallic or semiconducting tubes, the measured intensities can be directly related to the mass percentage of metallic and semiconducting tubes in the bulk SWCNT sample. With the use of this method it was found that for some samples the metallic/semiconducting ratios strongly differed from the usual 1:2 ratio.

A Comprehensive Review on Separation Methods and Techniques for Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Structural control of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is attracting enormous interest in view of their applications to nanoelectronics and nanooptics. Actually, more than 200 papers regarding separation of SWNTs have been published since 1998. In this review, they are classified into the following five sections according to the separation methods; electrophoresis, centrifugation, chromatography, selective solubilization and selective reaction. In each method, all literature is summarized in tables showing the separated objects (metallic/semiconducting (M/S), length, diameter, (n, m) structure and/or handedness), the production process of the used SWNTs (CoMoCAT, HiPco, arc discharge and/or laser vaporization) and the employed chemicals, such as detergents and polymers. Changes in annual number of publications related to this subject are also discussed.

Multicomponent solubility parameters for single-walled carbon nanotube-solvent mixtures

We have measured the dispersibility of single-walled carbon nanotubes in a range of solvents, observing values as high as 3.5 mg/mL. By plotting the nanotube dispersibility as a function of the Hansen solubility parameters of the solvents, we have confirmed that successful solvents occupy a well-defined range of Hansen parameter space. The level of dispersibility is more sensitive to the dispersive Hansen parameter than the polar or H-bonding Hansen parameter. We estimate the dispersion, polar, and hydrogen bonding Hansen parameter for the nanotubes to be <delta(D)> = 17.8 MPa(1/2), <delta(P)> = 7.5 MPa(1/2), and <delta(H)> = 7.6 MPa(1/2). We find that the nanotube dispersibility in good solvents decays smoothly with the distance in Hansen space from solvent to nanotube solubility parameters. Finally, we propose that neither Hildebrand nor Hansen solubility parameters are fundamental quantities when it comes to nanotube-solvent interactions. We show that the previously calculated dependence of nanotube Hildebrand parameter on nanotube diameter can be reproduced by deriving a simple expression based on the nanotube surface energy. We show that solubility parameters based on surface energy give equivalent results to Hansen solubility parameters. However, we note that, contrary to solubility theory, a number of nonsolvents for nanotubes have both Hansen and surface energy solubility parameters similar to those calculated for nanotubes. The nature of the distinction between solvents and nonsolvents remains to be fully understood.

Nanoparticle analysis and characterization methodologies in environmental risk assessment of engineered nanoparticles

Environmental risk assessments of engineered nanoparticles require thorough characterization of nanoparticles and their aggregates. Furthermore, quantitative analytical methods are required to determine environmental concentrations and enable both effect and exposure assessments. Many methods still need optimization and development, especially for new types of nanoparticles in water, but extensive experience can be gained from the fields of environmental chemistry of natural nanomaterials and from fundamental colloid chemistry. This review briefly describes most methods that are being exploited in nanoecotoxicology for analysis and characterization of nanomaterials. Methodological aspects are discussed in relation to the fields of nanometrology, particle size analysis and analytical chemistry. Differences in both the type of size measures (length, radius, aspect ratio, etc.), and the type of average or distributions afforded by the specific measures are compared. The strengths of single particle methods, such as electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, with respect to imaging, shape determinations and application to particle process studies are discussed, together with their limitations in terms of counting statistics and sample preparation. Methods based on the measurement of particle populations are discussed in terms of their quantitative analyses, but the necessity of knowing their limitations in size range and concentration range is also considered. The advantage of combining complementary methods is highlighted.

Occurrence, behavior and effects of nanoparticles in the environment

The increasing use of engineered nanoparticles (NP) in industrial and household applications will very likely lead to the release of such materials into the environment. Assessing the risks of these NP in the environment requires an understanding of their mobility, reactivity, ecotoxicity and persistency. This review presents an overview of the classes of NP relevant to the environment and summarizes their formation, emission, occurrence and fate in the environment. The engineered NP are thereby compared to natural products such as soot and organic colloids. To date only few quantitative analytical techniques for measuring NP in natural systems are available, which results in a serious lack of information about their occurrence in the environment. Results from ecotoxicological studies show that certain NP have effects on organisms under environmental conditions, though mostly at elevated concentrations. The next step towards an assessment of the risks of NP in the environment should therefore be to estimate the exposure to the different NP. It is also important to notice that most NP in technical applications are functionalized and therefore studies using pristine NP may not be relevant for assessing the behavior of the NP actually used.