Lateral homogeneity of the electronic properties in pristine and ion-irradiated graphene probed by scanning capacitance spectroscopy

Evidence for Local Spots of Viscous Electron Flow in Graphene at Moderate Mobility

Dominating electron-electron scattering enables viscous electron flow exhibiting hydrodynamic current density patterns, such as Poiseuille profiles or vortices. The viscous regime has recently been observed in graphene by nonlocal transport experiments and mapping of the Poiseuille profile. Herein, we probe the current-induced surface potential maps of graphene field-effect transistors with moderate mobility using scanning probe microscopy at room temperature. We discover micrometer-sized large areas appearing close to charge neutrality that show current-induced electric fields opposing the externally applied field. By estimating the local scattering lengths from the gate dependence of local in-plane electric fields, we find that electron-electron scattering dominates in these areas as expected for viscous flow. Moreover, we suppress the inverted fields by artificially decreasing the electron-disorder scattering length via mild ion bombardment. These results imply that viscous electron flow is omnipresent in graphene devices, even at moderate mobility.

Urchin-like Hydroxyapatite/Graphene Hollow Microspheres as pH-Responsive Bone Drug Carriers

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is the main inorganic component of human bones and teeth. It has good biocompatibility and bioactivity, which promotes its good application prospects in the field of bone drug carriers. In this study, tetraethylenepentamine-graphene (rGO-TEPA)/CaCO₃:HA composite microspheres were prepared via microwave hydrothermal synthesis using rGO-TEPA/CaCO₃ solid microspheres as intermediates. Furthermore, the incompletely transformed CaCO₃ was removed by soaking in a citric acid buffer to obtain rGO-TEPA/HA hollow composite microspheres. The two types of as-prepared composite microspheres exhibited sea urchin-like structures, large BET surface areas, and good dispersibility. Mouse preosteoblast cells (MC3T3-E1) were used for in vitro cytotoxicity experiments. The in vitro cell viability test showed that the two composite drug carriers exhibited noncytotoxicity. Moreover, the doxorubicin (DOX) loading and releasing investigations revealed that the two types of prepared carriers had mild storage-release behaviors and good pH responsiveness. Hence, these rGO-TEPA/HA hollow microspheres have promising applications as bone drug carriers.

CaCO3/Tetraethylenepentamine-Graphene Hollow Microspheres as Biocompatible Bone Drug Carriers for Controlled Release

CaCO₃ is one kind of important biological mineral, which widely exists in coral, shell, and other organisms. Since it is similar to bone tissue elements and has good biocompatibility, it was very suitable as a candidates for bone drug carriers. In this work, we used tetraethylenepentamine-graphene (rGO-TEPA) sheet matrices induction of CaCO₃ mineralization and successfully constructed CaCO₃/rGO-TEPA drug carriers with a hollow structure and rough surface. As potential drug carriers, doxorubicin (DOX) loading and release measurements were carried out. It showed that load efficiency was 94.7% and the release efficiencies were 13.8% and 91.7% at values of pH 7.4 and 5.0. The as-prepared drug carriers showed some appealing advantages, such as the pH-sensitive release characteristics and mild storage-release behaviors. The excellent biocompatibility and nontoxicity of CaCO₃/rGO-TEPA hybrid microspheres were tested by the cell viability of mouse preosteoblast cells (MC3T3-E1). And cytotoxicity with human osteosarcoma cells (MG-63) was carried out to demonstrate the drug release effect in the cells system. Therefore, the CaCO₃/rGO-TEPA hybrid microspheres would be a competitive alternative in bone drug carriers.