Graphene Oxide (GO) Materials—Applications and Toxicity on Living Organisms and Environment

Abstract

Graphene-based materials have attracted much attention due to their fascinating properties such as hydrophilicity, high dispersion in aqueous media, robust size, high biocompatibility, and surface functionalization ability due to the presence of functional groups and interactions with biomolecules such as proteins and nucleic acid. Modified methods were developed for safe, direct, inexpensive, and eco-friendly synthesis. However, toxicity to the environment and animal health has been reported, raising concerns about their utilization. This review focuses primarily on the synthesis methods of graphene-based materials already developed and the unique properties that make them so interesting for different applications. Different applications are presented and discussed with particular emphasis on biological fields. Furthermore, antimicrobial potential and the factors that affect this activity are reviewed. Finally, questions related to toxicity to the environment and living organisms are revised by highlighting factors that may interfere with it.

Toward waterborne protozoa detection using sensing technologies

“…Graphene and GO nanomaterials present unique chemical and electrical features, which have highlighted them as promising materials to improve signal responses in novel sensing technologies such as electrochemical biosensors, fluorescence resonance energy biosensors transfer (FRET), laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS), and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) (Chauhan et al, 2017;Janegitz et al, 2017;Morales-Narváez et al, 2017). GO possesses a hydrophobic domain structure and hydrophilic oxygen-containing functional groups, which provide good biocompatibility and water dispersibility (Ghulam et al, 2022). However, their features, including high surface area and a high affinity for a variety of biomolecules (antibodies, enzymes, DNA, cells, and proteins), have made them ideal for next-generation biosensors (Lee et al, 2016).…”

Identification of circular RNAs expression pattern in caprine fetal fibroblast cells exposed to a chronic non-cytotoxic dose of graphene oxide-silver nanoparticle nanocomposites

“…Thus, a comprehensive analysis is required to know the possible long- and short-term effects of AgNP-related materials before its full-scale application in veterinary and animal sciences ( Ema et al, 2017a ; Yuan et al, 2021 ). A number of previous studies were conducted to evaluate possible mechanisms of graphene oxide or AgNPs-induced toxicity with various kinds of cells lines and animal models ( Liao et al, 2019 ; Ghulam et al, 2022 ). Numerous studies have also shown the toxicological effects of graphene oxide-silver nanoparticle nanocomposites (GO-AgNPs) on human cells and animal ( Ali et al, 2018 ; Courtois et al, 2019 ; Yuan et al, 2021 ), which even remains two generations post-maternal exposure ( Ellis et al, 2020 ).…”

Response Surface Methodology to Efficiently Optimize Intracellular Delivery by Photoporation

“…So far, mostly metallic (e.g., gold and iron oxide) [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] or carbon-based (e.g., carbon black, reduced graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots) [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ] NPs have been used for the photoporation of cells. However, concerns regarding the potentially toxic effects of such essentially non-degradable nanoparticles [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ] have led researchers to seek more biocompatible alternatives, such as polydopamine NPs (PDNPs). PDNPs possess excellent photothermal properties across the visible range of wavelengths [ 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ].…”