Two- and Three-Dimensional All-Carbon Nanomaterial Assemblies for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Abstract

Carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene have gained significant interest in the fields of materials science, electronics and biomedicine due to their interesting physiochemical properties. Typically these carbon nanomaterials have been dispersed in polymeric matrices at low concentrations to improve the functional properties of nanocomposites employed as two-dimensional (2D) substrates or three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. There has been a growing interest in the assembly of these nanomaterials into 2D and 3D architectures without the use of polymeric matrices, surfactants or binders. In this article, we review recent advances in the development of 2D or 3D all-carbon assemblies using carbon nanotubes or graphene as nanoscale building-block biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.

Effects of intermolecular interactions on the stability of carbon nanotube–gold nanoparticle conjugates in solution

“…As can be seen in Figure 6, the mean interaction energy of linker atoms with the gold core agrees well with the theoretical prediction given by eq (6). The discrepancy for a =5 Å is a common effect of application of the Hamaker potential (3) to small objects.…”

“…Of course, more illustrative for analysis would be thermal averages of the interaction energy determined using eq (6). However, due to high values of the potential energy minima, the thermal averages are actually the same.…”

“…Hydrogen storage, 1 gas separation 2 or sensor applications, 3 nanoreactors, 4 or catalysts 5 are a few examples of their diverse application areas. CNTs are also extensively studied in medical sciences mainly as materials for tissue engineering 6,7 and drugs carriers. 8,9 Numerous studies of CNT as drugs carriers are almost exclusively devoted to incorporation of drugs, targeting factors or compounds improving their biocompatibility to the external walls of CNT.…”

Toxicology of graphene-based nanomaterials

“…Therefore, more studies assessing the long-term environmental impact of graphene are required. Recent efforts have also involved incorporation of graphene nanoparticles in polymer matrices or their assembly in coating, films and porous scaffolds for bio-sensing, localized drug delivery or tissue engineering applications [147, 148]. For these applications, additional in vitro and in vivo toxicological studies specific to biomedical devices and implants would be needed.…”

Osteogenic differentiation of human adipose derived stem cells on chemically crosslinked carbon nanomaterial coatings

“…[14][15][16][17][18] For bone tissue engineering applications, carbon nanotube and graphene films and coatings have been fabricated by spray coating, chemical vapor deposition, and vacuum filtration and their cytocompatibility has been assessed. 22,23 While this method improves the structural stability of deposited coatings, the in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo biocompatibility of the crosslinked films was not assessed. This issue could loosen and release nanoparticles and wear debris leading to potential adverse effects on the coatings in functionality and biocompatibility.…”