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Carbon Nanotube Applications

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Carbon Nanotube Applications

Introduction of carbon nanotube in medicine

In the recent years, nanotechnology has really grown, and it has become one of the highly promising technologies in the field of medicine specifically in the development of new applications in the field. Due to their promising nature, they have become one of the most prevalent things in medical research today. These technologies exhibit unique features and properties both physically and chemically, and this is the reason why researcher over the past few years have invested a lot in trying to explore them and their possible value to the field. What are carbon nanotubes, therefore?

The definition of carbon nanotubes in terms of their material is that it is a structure that takes the shape of a cylinder or a tube with hexagonal graphite molecules attached on the edges and it is made of pure carbon. They physically look like black powder which has been rolled up into strands that are hollow and with a very small diameter of about a nanometre. The small diameter makes them very thin although they are very long structures. They are 10000 times thinner than the strand of a human hair (Reich, Thomsen & Maultzsch, 2004). Their discovery was made a long time ago that is in 1952 although they did not become instantly popular and noticed.

The carbon nanotubes are classified into two main types. The first type is the single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) which look just like one straw with only one wall around. The second type is the multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs) which have several layers of walls (Reich, Thomsen & Maultzsch, 2004). The fact that the multi-walled carbon nanotube has various layers of walls makes it bigger in size compared to the single-walled carbon nanotube as can be seen below. These two different types have been demonstrated in the two below.

Below are images of the structure described above

Figure 1: The structure of the carbon nanotube (Reich, Thomsen & Maultzsch, 2004).

Figure 2: Different type of the carbon nanotube (Reich, Thomsen & Maultzsch, 2004).

Desirable Properties

The carbon nanotubes have various highly unique features in terms of their size, their structure as well as their chemical composition among other aspects that make them highly desirable not only for the field of medicine but also for other fields such as optics, and also electronics. These properties include:

• The can conduct electricity: The structure of the material can either be metallic or any other materials that can semi-conduct electricity. Their conductivity property is mainly greater than that of copper, but it has often been likened to that of silicon.

• They are very strong and elastic: The carbon atom in these nanotubes form very strong chemical bonds which makes the material very strong, and due to the elastic nature of the graphite molecules, the material is also very elastic. This property makes carbon nanotubes fibers of high strength.

• Small sized: The fact that the material is very small in diameter as described above makes them very useful in medical for delivering medicine in very small doses to various organs in the body, and this helps to reduce side effects of medicine (Reich, Thomsen & Maultzsch, 2004). This also minimizes the level of harm to healthy cells since this property makes cell targeting easy, unlike other drugs.

• Solubility: The carbon nanotubes have proven to be highly soluble when they function together with lipids, and this property makes it possible for them to work easily within the human body without causing any forms of blockage in major organs.

• They have a strong optical absorbance: This is mostly the case when they operate near infrared light or with tumor cells, and this makes it possible for them to destroy disease cells such as the cancer cells.

• High surface area: This makes it possible to conjugate with a wide range of medical agents whether therapeutic or diagnostic in nature.

• Thermal conductivity: Research has indicated that carbon nanotubes are the best heat conductors that a man has ever come up with and this property makes it applicable to functions such as sensing.

• High aspect ratio: This means that a lower concentration of the carbon nanotubes is needed for it to achieve a certain level of functionality for example conductivity as compared to other material. This also plays a major role in enhancing the level of functionalization of the material (Zhang, 2012).

Applications of carbon nanotube in medicine

Although there is still very deep research that is underway in the various areas where this technology can be used in medicine, the technology has shown great potential in various areas. There are three major applications of carbon nanotube in the field of medicine which are going to be discussed below.

1. Biosensor function

This function has been made possible by the thermal and electrical conductivity of the carbon nanotubes. The carbon nanotube is usually embedded with various biosensors to detect various aspects of the body. The carbon nanotubes have so far been used in sensing the stress levels of an individual, diagnosing a yeast infection, detecting an individual’s DNA as well as detecting an individual’s glucose level (Giersig & Khomutov, 2008). Each of these biosensors applies different techniques and technologies, but all are embedded on the carbon nanotubes.

2. Drug delivery

This is probably the biggest application of the carbon nanotubes in the field of medicine and one that is growing at the most rapid rate. The property that makes the carbon nanotubes applicable for this function as described above is the fact that they are small and with very little mass. Although there are various other technologies being used today for this same function for example liposomes and dendrimers among others, carbon nanotubes present an opportunity for greater effectiveness since they have a great capacity for loading drugs and they are very good in cell penetration. Their wide surface area gives them the capacity for drug loading while their high aspect ratio makes them easy to functionalize and finally they can easily be taken up by various cells in the body (Zhang, 2012). Further, the carbon nanotubes can be made without caps on the ends, and this means that the drugs can easily be accessed in the cells when it penetrates. These properties make the carbon nanotube very suitable for delivering drugs to various cells in the body.

3.Selected cell Destruction

This is an application that makes the carbon nanotubes applicable for cancer therapy as well as treatment of tumors. This application is made possible by the fact that the carbon nanotubes have a high absorbance rate, especially when functionalized with the near-infrared light as well as their thermal conductivity property. This works by targeting the carbon nanotube to particular cells for example tumour cells in the body and then directing a near-infrared light which heats up the nanotube enabling it to produce a lot of heat which eventually kills these cells. For the killing of cancer cells in cancer therapy the carbon nanotubes need to be functionalized with folate moiety (Giersig & Khomutov, 2008).

The ability to functionalize the sidewalls of the carbon nanotubes makes the material also sow great potential in other application such as the regeneration of cells, growth of neurons as well as vascular stents (Giersig & Khomutov, 2008).

Characterization

Some major advantages have been mentioned in the various sections of the paper. The first major one if the ability to be functionalized and this makes the nanotubes versatile for various applications. This has also made it possible to find ways to cure various diseases such as cancer which has proven a major problem to the health of the global population. Further, the techniques used have proven to lower the level of toxicity that is associated with drugs and treatment and promote the health of the already healthy cells while killing the bad ones (Zhang, 2012). This is a unique invention which is so contrary to the conventional drugs used to da which are highly toxic and some which also harm other good cells. In general, more effective ways of promoting health can be brought about by the use of this technology. The only disadvantage is the cost since the expected cost of treatment for this technique is expected to be high meaning that most individuals may not be able to afford it.

Challenges and opportunities

Despite the great potential that this technology has in improving the field of medicine, one of the biggest challenges that have been faced in trying to make the technology commercial is the high cost of production that is associated with it. However, the producers have been finding new ways of producing the nanotubes in a more cost-effective manner, and it is anticipated that the cost of the nanotubes which are supplied from Korea will significantly drop making them more affordable in the market. Further, various shortcomings have also been identified in the application of the carbon nanotubes for example occurrences of clumping, solubility issues and issues with half-life while it is used for drug delivery and this hinders its ability to effectively deliver the drugs (Giersig & Khomutov, 2008). The researchers, however, have been working to find solutions to these shortcomings by making appropriate adjustments such as drug encapsulation. Finally, one big opportunity that is currently being missed considering the fact that this technology will be of great impact in the medical field is the training and involvement of the medical professionals across the globe such that they too know how to apply it best and also probably offer more input for improvement.

Conclusion

From the property and application information provided above, it is clear that is a kind of technology that is much needed in the global health arena today. This would serve as a saviour for many health problems that have proven to be a headache to people today for example cancer which is a leading cause of death in the globe. It is therefore commendable for efforts for developing and exploring the nanotechnologies go on as researcher make it more desirable for treatment.

References

Giersig, M. & Khomutov, G. (2008). Nanomaterials for application in medicine and biology. Dordrecht: Springer.

Reich, S., Thomsen, C. & Maultzsch, J. (2004). Carbon nanotubes: basic concepts and physical properties. Weinheim Cambridge: Wiley-VCH.

Zhang, Q. (2012). Carbon nanotubes and their applications. Singapore: Pan Stanford Publishing.