Copyright © 2006 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Journal of
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Vol. 6, 1883–1904, 2006
Applications of Carbon Nanotubes-Based
Biomaterials in Biomedical Nanotechnology
Stefania Polizu1 , Oumarou Savadogo1, Philippe Poulin2, and L’Hocine Yahia1
1École Polytechnique de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
2Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Bordeaux, France
One of the facets of nanotechnology applications is the immense opportunities they offer for new developments in medicine and health sciences. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have particularly attracted attention for designing new monitoring systems for environment and living cells as well as nanosensors. Carbon nanotubes-based biomaterials are also employed as support for active prosthesis or functional matrices in reparation of parts of the human body. These nanostructures are studied as molecular-level building blocks for the complex and miniaturized medical device, and substrate for stimulation of cellular growth. The CNTs are cylindrical shaped with caged molecules which can act as nanoscale containers for molecular species, well required for biomolecular recognition and drug delivery systems. Endowed with very large aspect ratios, an excellent electrical conductivity and inertness along with mechanical robustness, nanotubes found enormous applications in molecular electronics and bioelectronics. The ballistic electrical behaviour of SWNTs conjugated with functionalization promotes a large variety of biosensors for individual molecules.
Actuative response of CNTs is considered very promising feature for nanodevices, micro-robots and
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artificial muscles. An description of CNTs based biomaterials is attempted in this review, in order to
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point out their enormous potential for biomedical nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology.
Copyright: American Scientific Publishers
Keywords: Carbon Nanotubes, Biomaterial, Micro-Devices, Nanosensors, Nanobiotechnology, Biomedical, Nanotechnology, Nano-Robots, Biocompatibility, Bioactivity.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1883 2. Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1885 2.1. Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1885 2.2. Geometric Structural Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1885 2.3. CNTs Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1886 3. Reactivity and Functionalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1888 3.1. CNTs Reactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1888 3.2. CNTs Functionalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1889 3.3. Purification, Dissolution, and Wettability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1890 4. Biocompatibility of Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1891 5. Biomedical Applications of Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1893 5.1. CNTs Smart Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1893 5.2. Biomolecules and Carbon Nanotubes Assemblies . . . . . . . 1894 5.3. CNT Neural Biomaterial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1894 5.4. CNTs for Delivery Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1895
5.5. Miniaturized Devices and Nanorobotics for
Nanomedicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1895 6. Trends for the Future: Challenges and Oportunities . . . . . . . . . . 1900 References and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1901
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1. INTRODUCTION
Historically, the field of biomaterials has proven to have an outstanding potential for medical applications and has rapidly gained importance during the last decade. This development is due to the mounting demand for highquality medical care, encouraged by the development of nanotechnologies. Indeed, new nanomaterials can lead to the creation of new supports and components for implants, artificial organs and other prosthetic devices. This increasing interest is fuelled by the fact that their use ensures accurate intervention with as little intrusion as possible and hence contributes to a very specific therapeutic effect. Owing to the small size and high contact surface area, nanomaterials possess unique potential for medical applications and thus have captured the scientist’s imagination in the recent years.1–4
One of the most intensively developing fields of nanomaterial technology is related to carbon nanostructures. Originally discovered in 1991, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), can be considered as a derivative of both carbon fibers and fullerene with molecules composed of 60 atoms of
J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 2006, Vol. 6, No. 7 |
1533-4880/2006/6/1883/022 |
doi:10.1166/jnn.2006.197 |
1883 |