The Use of Electrospun Organic and Carbon Nanofibers in Bone Regeneration

There has been an increasing amount of research on regenerative medicine for the treatment of bone defects. Scaffolds are needed for the formation of new bone, and various scaffolding materials have been evaluated for bone regeneration. Materials with pores that allow cells to differentiate into osteocytes are preferred in scaffolds for bone regeneration, and porous materials and fibers are well suited for this application. Electrospinning is an effective method for producing a nanosized fiber by applying a high voltage to the needle tip containing a polymer solution. The use of electrospun nanofibers is being studied in the medical field, and its use as a scaffold for bone regeneration therapy has become a topic of growing interest. In this review, we will introduce the potential use of electrospun nanofiber as a scaffold for bone regenerative medicine with a focus on carbon nanofibers produced by the electrospinning method.ArticleNANOMATERIALS. 10(3):562 (2020)journal articl

Solvent-induced porosity control of carbon nanofiber webs for supercapacitor

A simple and scalable method is reported for fabricating a porosity-controlled carbon nanofibers with a skin-core texture by electrospinning a selected blend of polymer solutions. Simple thermal treatment of the electrospun nanofibers from solution blends of various compositions creates suitable ultramicropores on the surface of carbon nanofibers that can accommodate many ions, removing the need for an activation step. The intrinsic properties of the electrode (e.g., nanometre-size diameter, high specific surface area, narrow pore size distribution, tuneable porosity, shallow pore depth, and good ionic accessibility) enable construction of supercapacitors with large specific capacitance (130.7 Fg(-1)), high power (100 kW kg(-1)), and energy density (15.0 Wh kg(-1)). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.ArticleJOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES. 196(23):10496-10501 (2011)journal articl

Proteomics-based safety evaluation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

This study evaluated the biological responses to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Human monoblastic leukemia cells (U937) were exposed to As-grown MWCNTs and MWCNTs that were thermally treated at 1800 degrees C (HTT1800) and 2800 degrees C (HTT2800). Cell proliferation was highly inhibited by As-grown but not HTT2800. However, both As-grown and HTT1800, which include some impurities, were cytotoxic. Proteomics analysis of MWCNT-exposed cells revealed 37 protein spots on 2-dimensional electrophoresis gels that significantly changed (p<0.05) after exposure to HTT1800 with a little iron and 20 spots that changed after exposure to HTT2800. Peptide mass fingerprinting identified 45 proteins that included heat shock protein beta-1, neutral alpha-glucosidase AB, and DNA mismatch repair protein Msh2. These altered proteins play roles in metabolism, biosynthesis, response to stress, and cell differentiation. Although HTT2800 did not inhibit cell proliferation or cause cytotoxicity in vitro, some proteins related to the response to stress were changed. Moreover, DJ-1 protein, which is a biomarker of Parkinson's disease and is related to cancer, was identified after exposure to both MWCNTs. These results show that the cytotoxicity of MWCNTs depends on their impurities, such as iron, while MWCNTs themselves cause some biological responses directly and/or indirectly in vitro. Our proteomics-based approach for detecting biological responses to nanomaterials is a promising new method for detailed safety evaluations.ArticleToxicology and Applied Pharmacology. 242(3):256-262 (2010)journal articl

Atomic layer coating of hafnium oxide on carbon nanotubes for high-performance field emitters

Carbon nanotubes coated with hafnium oxide exhibit excellent electron emission characteristics, including a low turn-on voltage, a high field enhancement factor, and exceptional current stability. Their enhanced emission performance was attributed to a decrease in the work function and an increase in the electron density of states at the carbon nanotube Fermi level closest to the conduction band minimum of hafnium oxide. In addition, the enhanced current stability was attributed to the ability of hafnium oxide to protect the carbon nanotubes against ions and free radicals created in the electron field emission process. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3650471]ArticleAPPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS. 99(15):153115 (2011)journal articl

Electroactive shape memory performance of polyurethane composite having homogeneously dispersed and covalently crosslinked carbon nanotubes

The electroactive shape memory of carbon nanotube-filled polyurethane composites, prepared by conventional blending, in situ and cross-linking polymerization, is studied in terms of the dispersion of the tubes The covalently bonded tubes are homogeneously dispersed within the polyurethane by introducing carboxyl groups on the sidewall of the tubes and selecting a cross-linking polymerization method The resultant composites, which have 92% shape retention and 95% shape recovery, are expected to be used as preferential materials in various actuatorsArticleCARBON. 48(5):1598-1603 (2010)journal articl

Wall-to-wall stress induced in (6,5) semiconducting nanotubes by encapsulation in metallic outer tubes of different diameters: A resonance Raman study of individual C(60)-derived double-wall carbon nanotubes

We measure resonant Raman scattering from 11 individual C(60)-derived double-wall carbon nanotubes all having inner semiconducting (6,5) tubes and various outer metallic tubes. The Raman spectra show the radial breathing modes (RBM) of the inner and the outer tubes to be simultaneously in resonance with the same laser energy. We observe that an increase in the RBM frequency of the inner tubes is related to an increase in the RBM frequency of the outer tubes. The Raman spectra also contain a sharp G(-) feature that increases in frequency as the nominal diameter of the outer metallic tubes decreases. Finally, the one-phonon second-order D-band mode shows a two-way frequency splitting that decreases with decreasing nominal wall-to-wall distance. We suggest that the stress which increases with decreasing nominal wall-to-wall distance is responsible for the hardening that is observed in the frequencies of the RBM, D and G(-) modes of the inner (6,5) semiconducting tubes.ArticleNANOSCALE. 2(3):406-411 (2010)journal articl

A Review of Double-Walled and Triple-Walled Carbon Nanotube Synthesis and Applications

Double- and triple-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs and TWNTs) consist of coaxially-nested two and three single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). They act as the geometrical bridge between SWNTs and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), providing an ideal model for studying the coupling interactions between different shells in MWNTs. Within this context, this article comprehensively reviews various synthetic routes of DWNTs’ and TWNTs’ production, such as arc discharge, catalytic chemical vapor deposition and thermal annealing of pea pods (i.e., SWNTs encapsulating fullerenes). Their structural features, as well as promising applications and future perspectives are also discussed. Keywords: carbon nanotubes; double-walled carbon nanotubes; triple-walled carbon nanotubes; synthesis; catalytic chemical vapor deposition; arc discharge; fullerenes; pea pod

G′ band in double- and triple-walled carbon nanotubes: A Raman study

Double- and triple-walled carbon nanotubes are studied in detail by laser energy-dependent Raman spectroscopy in order to get a deeper understanding about the second-order G[superscript '] band Raman process, general nanotube properties, such as electronic and vibrational properties, and the growth method itself. In this work, the inner nanotubes from the double- and triple-walled carbon nanotubes are produced through the encapsulation of fullerene peapods with high-temperature thermal treatments. We find that the spectral features of the G[superscript '] band, such as the intensity, frequency, linewidth, and line shape are highly sensitive to the annealing temperature variations. We also discuss the triple-peak structure of the G[superscript '] band observed in an individual triple-walled carbon nanotube taken at several laser energies connecting its Raman spectra with that for the G[superscript '] band spectra obtained for bundled triple-walled carbon nanotubes.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1004147

Photocatalysis-induced selective decoration of semiconducting single walled carbon nanotubes: hole-doping effect

We have examined the time-dependent effect of the titanium oxide photocatalysis on N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone individually dispersed single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) suspensions. From optical spectroscopic studies, we found a selective decoration of the semiconducting tubes. Such selectivity is attributed to the preferential attack of the photogenerated active species on the hole-doped semiconducting SWNTs.ArticleCHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS. 46(37):6977-6979 (2010)journal articl

Strong and stable photoluminescence from the semiconducting inner tubes within double walled carbon nanotubes

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS. 94(8):083106 (2009) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3085966 .ArticleAPPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS. 94(8):083106 (2009)journal articl