The Puzzling Potential of Carbon Nanomaterials: General Properties, Application, and Toxicity

Abstract

Being a member of the nanofamily, carbon nanomaterials exhibit specific properties that mostly arise from their small size. They have proved to be very promising for application in the technical and biomedical field. A wide spectrum of use implies the inevitable presence of carbon nanomaterials in the environment, thus potentially endangering their whole nature. Although scientists worldwide have conducted research investigating the impact of these materials, it is evident that there are still significant gaps concerning the knowledge of their mechanisms, as well as the prolonged and chronic exposure and effects. This manuscript summarizes the most prominent representatives of carbon nanomaterial groups, giving a brief review of their general physico-chemical properties, the most common use, and toxicity profiles. Toxicity was presented through genotoxicity and the activation of the cell signaling pathways, both including in vitro and in vivo models, mechanisms, and the consequential outcomes. Moreover, the acute toxicity of fullerenol, as one of the most commonly investigated members, was briefly presented in the final part of this review. Thinking small can greatly help us improve our lives, but also obliges us to deeply and comprehensively investigate all the possible consequences that could arise from our pure-hearted scientific ambitions and work.

Green Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex-based carbon dots for ameliorating imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like inflammation in mice

“…However, the in-depth mechanism related to structure-function relationship between PCC-CDs prepared at different conditions and the corresponding bioactivity remains a challenge. One hypothesis is that multifaceted properties of CDs such as abundant chemical groups, size, solubility played significant role in their biological application [ 30 – 32 ], which will lead to a slight or huge change in terms of physicochemical properties of PCC-CDs prepared at different temperatures linked to a dramatic alteration of the bioactivity of obtained CDs.…”

Green Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex-based Carbon Dots for Ameliorating Imiquimod-induced Psoriasis-like Inflammation in Mice

“…However, the in-depth mechanism related to structure-function relationship between PCC-CDs prepared at different conditions and the corresponding bioactivity remains a challenge. One hypothesis is that multifaceted properties of CDs such as abundant chemical groups, size, solubility played significant role in their biological application [28][29][30] , which will lead to a slight or huge change in terms of physicochemical properties of PCC-CDs prepared at different temperatures linked to a dramatic alteration of the bioactivity of obtained CDs.…”

Modeling Electromagnetic Nanostructures and Experimenting With Nanoelectric Elements to Form Periodic Structures

“…15b, then embodies a critical stage for the model. The formula for the potential condition expressed by the intensity E r,a enables us to express, from the known electric current magnitude (30) and density (31), the actual intensity of the electric field of the modeled and analyzed periodic structure; such intensity is generated by the propagation of a longitudinal electromagnetic wave. We have: (26) where E t is the tangential component of the electric intensity along the considered bound, Fig.…”

“…An interesting aspect lies in the analysis and evaluation of an electromagnetic wave and its propagation at the visible (in the order of hundreds of 100 THz), infrared (units to tens of THz), or lower (units to hundreds of GHz) spectral frequencies. The spectra are of particular interest for the given branch of engineering, as they offer broad application potential [9,31,41]. To set up the geometrical dimensions of the periodic system models at the atomic level and to design or analyze the structures in a stochastic model, we followed several relevant papers, including [26,27,45].…”

“…In model analyses where the electromagnetic field quantities are not evaluated at comparable magnitudes and sizes of the wavelength and the geometric structure [30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45], the mathematical model does not necessarily have to be formed with respect to the quality criterion. Thus, the most convenient approach is selected according to the type of analysis planned and the numerical model designed.…”