Effects of Gamma Irradiation for Sterilization on Aqueous Dispersions of Length Sorted Carbon Nanotubes

当前作为为 nanotherapeutics 和另外的医药应用的交货容器对碳 nanotubes 的潜在的使用有大兴趣。然而，没有数据在 nanotube 分散的性质上的消毒方法的效果上是可得到的，很医药的应用程序将在被处理的形式。这里，我们在水的分散在分散和单个墙的碳 nanotubes 的光性质上从 60Co 来源显示出 gamma 照耀的效果。不同精制长度的人口的样品在 ampoules 被封上并且暴露了到约 28 kGy 的剂量，对足够的水平保证分散的绝育。与稳固阶段的 nanotube 样品的文学结果相对照，分散和 nanotube 样品的光性质上的 gamma 照耀的效果被发现最小。把结果基于这些， gamma 照耀显得足够地非破坏性为 nanotube 分散的消毒工业上有用。

There is currently great interest in the potential use of carbon nanotubes as delivery vessels for nanotherapeutics and other medical applications. However, no data are available on the effects of sterilization methods on the properties of nanotube dispersions, the form in which most medical applications will be processed. Here we show the effects of gamma irradiation from a 60Co source on the dispersion and optical properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes in aqueous dispersion. Samples of different length-refined populations were sealed in ampoules and exposed to a dose of approximately 28 kGy, a level sufficient to ensure sterility of the dispersions. In contrast to literature results for solid-phase nanotube samples, the effects of gamma irradiation on the dispersion and optical properties of the nanotube samples were found to be minimal. Based on these results, gamma irradiation appears sufficiently non-destructive to be industrially useful for the sterilization of nanotube dispersions.