Pre-incubated with BSA-complexed free fatty acids alters ER stress/autophagic gene expression by carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotube exposure in THP-1 macrophages

Recently we found that multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) exposure alters the mRNA levels of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/autophagic genes, but the impact of biological molecules on this response is unclear. Herein, we compared the different actions of carboxylated MWCNTs (c-MWCNTs) pre-incubated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or BSA-complexed free fatty acid (denoted as FFA) on macrophages derived from THP-1 monocytes (denoted as THP-1 macrophages). C-MWCNTs exhibited increased diameter and hydrodynamic size as well as decreased absolute zeta potential value after pre-incubation with BSA or FFA, which suggested a coating effect. Cytotoxicity or oxidative stress were not significantly induced after exposure to BSA-or FFA-coated c-MWCNTs. BSA-pre-incubated c-MWCNTs significantly enhanced the expression of the ER stress gene, DDIT3 and the autophagic genes, ATG5, BECN1, and PLIN2, but the mRNA levels of these genes was significantly decreased by FFA-pre-incubated c-MWCNTs. FFA-pre-incubated c-MWCNTs induced significantly higher lipid accumulation and interleukin-6 (IL-6) protein level compared with BSA-pre-incubated c-MWCNTs, which suggested that FFA-pre-incubated c-MWCNTs may more effectively induce the formation of macrophage foam cells. Collectively, our data indicated that pre-incubation with FFA may influence c-MWCNT-induced ER stress/autophagic gene expression and foam cell formation in THP-1 macrophages.

The toxicity of hydroxylated and carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes to human endothelial cells was not exacerbated by ER stress inducer

Hydroxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes(h-MWCNTs) and carboxylated MWCNTs(c-MWCNTs)have potential applications in biomedicine, but their toxicity to human endothelial cells under stressed conditions associated with chronic diseases was less studied in vitro. This study stressed human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs) with ER stress inducer thapsigargin(TG), and investigated the toxicity of h-MWCNTs and c-MWCNTs to normal and stressed HUVECs. h-MWCNTs and c-MWCNTs modestly reduced cellular viability, significantly promoted soluble ICAM-1(sICAM-1),soluble VCAM-1(sVCAM-1) as well as intracellular ROS, and decreased the expression of transcription factor KLF2 and KLF4. Pre-treatment with TG significantly reduced cellular viability, promoted IL-6 and THP-1 monocyte adhesion, and increased the expression of a panel of ER stress genes. ANOVA indicated no interaction between MWCNTs and TG pre-treatment on most of the endpoints. It was concluded that the toxicity of h-MWCNTs and c-MWCNTs to HUVECs might not be exacerbated by ER stress

Abnormal magnetic behavior of prussian blue analogs modified with multi-walled carbon nanotubes

This work examines the origin of the abnormal magnetism exhibited by Cu Mn Fe-PBAs modified with multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs).The system of Cu Mn Fe-PBAs@MWCNTs coexists with both large and small clusters.Cu Mn Fe-PBAs clusters have an average particle size of 28 nm,and some of the smaller particles are adsorbed on the surface of MWCNTs.Surprisingly,the magnitude of magnetization increases linearly with decreasing temperature.When above the Curie temperature,the magnitude of magnetization is significantly greater than that of PBAs without being modified.This phenomenon can be attributed to magnetostatic interactions between ultra-fine magnetic nanoparticles adsorbed on the surface of MWCNTs.Using the Monte Carlo method,we simulated the magnetostatic interaction of cylindrical adsorbed particles,and the simulation results are almost identical to those observed experimentally.The results indicate that 0.089Cu Mn Fe-PBAs clusters per 1 nm^(2)can be adsorbed onto the surface area of MWCNTs.We demonstrate that MWCNTs adsorbing magnetic particles exhibit magnetic behavior,and suggest a method for producing ultrafine materials.It also introduces a new method of calculating the adsorption efficiency of carbon nanotubes,offering theoretical guidance for future research on nanomaterials with enhanced adsorption efficiency.

Ultrasensitive electrochemical determination of metronidazole based on polydopamine/carboxylic multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites modified GCE

An ultrasensitive electrochemical sensor based on polydopamine/carboxylic multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs à COOH) nanocomposites modified glassy carbon electrode(GCE) was presented in this work, which has been developed for highly selective and highly sensitive determination of an antimicrobial drug, metronidazole. The preparation of polydopamine/MWCNTs–COOH nanocomposites/GCE sensor is simple and possesses high reproducible, where polydopamine can be coated on the surface of MWCNTs–COOH via a simple electropolymerization process. Under optimized conditions, the proposed sensor showed ultrasensitive determination for metronidazole with a wide linear detection range from5 to 5000 mmol/dm^3 and a low detection limit of 0.25 mmol/dm^3(S/N=3). Moreover, the proposed sensor has been successfully applied for the quantitative determination of metronidazole in real drug samples. This work may provide a novel and effective analytical platform for determination of metronidazole in application of real pharmaceutical and biological samples analysis.

Enhanced thermal and electrical properties of poly (D,L-lactide)/ multi-walled carbon nanotubes composites by in-situ polymerization

Biodegradable poly （D,L-lactide） （PLA）/carboxyl-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes （c-MWCNTs） composites were achieved via in-situ polymerization. These as-prepared composite materials were characterized with FT-IR, XRD, TG, DSC, SEM, and high insulation resistance meter. The results demonstrate that the multi-walled carbon nanotube was carboxyl functionalized, which improved the collection between c-MWCNTs and PLA, and further realized the graft copolymerization of c-MWCNTs and PLA. There is a higher glass transition temperature and a lower pyrolysis temperature of PLA/c-MWCNTs composites than pure PLA. The c-MWCNTs gave a better dispersion than unmodified MWCNTs in the PLA matrix, and an even coating of PLA on the surface of c-MWCNTs was obtained, which increased the interfacial interaction. High insulation resistance analysis showed that the addition of c-MWCNTs increased the electric conductivity, and c-MWCNTs performed against the large dielectric coefficient and electrostatic state of PLA. These results demonstrated that c-MWCNTs modified PLA composites were beneficial for potential application in the development of heat-resisting and conductivity plastic engineering.

Effect of electron beam irradiation on multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWCNTs） were irradiated with focused electron beams in a transmission electron microscope at room temperature. The results showed that carbon nanotubes had no obvious structural damages but only shell bending under 100 keV electron beam irradiation. However, when the electron energy increased to 200 keV, the nanotubes were damaged and amorphization, pits and gaps were detected. Furthermore, generating of carbon onions and welding between two MWCNTs occurred under 200 keV electron irradiation. It was easy to destroy the MWCNTs as the electron beams exceeded the displacement threshold energy that was calculated to be 83-110 keV. Conversely, the energy of electron beams below the threshold energy was not able to damage the tubes. The damage mechanism is sputtering and atom displacement.

Toxicity of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes,Graphene Oxide,and Reduced Graphene Oxide to Zebrafish Embryos

Objective This study was aimed to investigate the toxic effects of 3 nanomaterials, i.e. multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWCNTs）, graphene oxide （GO）, and reduced graphene oxide （RGO）, on zebrafish embryos. Methods The 2-h post-fertilization （hpf） zebrafish embryos were exposed to MWCNTs, GO, and RGO at different concentrations （1, 5, 10, 50, 100 mg/L） for 96 h. Afterwards, the effects of the 3 nanomateria on spontaneous movement, heart rate, hatching rate, length of larvae, mortality, and malformations Is were evaluated. Results Statistical analysis indicated that RGO significantly inhibited the hatching of zebrafish embryos. Furthermore, RGO and MWCNTs decreased the length of the hatched larvae at 96 hpf. No obvious morphological malformation or mortality was observed in the zebrafish embryos after exposure to the three nanomaterials. Conclusion MWCNTs, GO, and RGO were all toxic to zebrafish embryos to influence embryos hatching and larvae length. Although no obvious morphological malformation and mortality were observed in exposed zebrafish embryos, further studies on the toxicity of the three nanomaterials are still needed.

In situ synthesis of palladium nanoparticles on multi-walled carbon nanotubes and their electroactivity for ethanol oxidation

Pd nanoparticles(Pd-NPs)were prepared and directly anchored on the surface of multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs)in the absence of chemical reduction agent,where MWCNTs were used as both the chemical reduction agent and the support substrate of Pd-NPs.Effect of various surfactants on the in situ deposition of PdNPs on MWCNTs was investigated.When MWCNTs were modified with a cationic surfactant(hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide,CTAB),the amount of the Pd-NPs(Pd-NP/CTAB-MWCNT)generated by such an in situ deposition method gets a notable increase,and the size of the as-synthesized Pd-NPs becomes smaller,compared with those in the absence of any surfactant(Pd-NP/MWCNT)or in the presence of an anionic surfactant SDS(Pd-NP/SDS-MWCNT)and a neutral surfactant OP(PdNP/OP-MWCNT).Results show that the MWCNTs modified with CTAB are propitious to the in situ reduction of Pd2?.Among the prepared catalysts,Pd-NP/CTABMWCNT displays the highest electroactivity for ethanol oxidation in alkaline media.

Production of High Purity Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes from Catalytic Decomposition of Methane

Acid-based purification process of multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWNTs） produced via catalytic decomposition of methane with NiO/TiO2 as a catalyst is described. By combining the oxidation in air and the acid refluxes, the impurities, such as amorphous carbon, carbon nanoparticles, and the NiO/TiO2 catalyst, are eliminated. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM） images confirm the removal of the impurities. The percentage of the carbon nanotubes purity was analyzed using thermal gravimetric analysis （TGA）. Using this process, 99.9 wt% purity of MWNTs was obtained.

Preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotube–Fe composites and their application as light weight and broadband electromagnetic wave absorbers

Multi-walled carbon nanotube （MWCNT）-Fe composites were prepared via the metal organic chemical vapor deposi- tion by depositing iron pentacarbonyl on the surface of MWCNTs. The structural and morphological analyses demonstrated that Fe nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of the MWCNTs. The electromagnetic properties of the MWCNTs were significantly changed, and the absorbing capacity evidently improved after the Fe deposition on the MWCNT surface. A minimum reflection loss of -29.4 dB was observed at 8.39 GHz, and the less than -10 dB bandwidth was about 10.6 GHz, which covered the whole X band （8.2-12.4 GHz） and the whole Ku band （12.4-18 GHz）, indicating that the MWCNT-Fe composites could be used as an effective microwave absorption material.

Crystallization Behavior and Mechanical Properties of Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/multi-walled Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposites

Poly（vinylidene fluoride）（PVDF）/multi-walled carbon nanotube（MWCNT） nanocomposites were prepared by means of ultrasonic dispersion method. X-ray diffraction（XRD） results indicate that incorporating MWCNTs into PVDF caused the formation of β phase. A thermal annealing at 130 ℃ confirmed that the β phase was stable in the nanocomposites. Differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） results indicate that the melting temperature slightly increased while the heat of fusion markedly decreased with increasing MWCNT content. The tensile strength and modulus of PVDF were improved by loading the MWCNTs. The scanning electron microscopy（SEM） observations showed that MWCNTs were uniformly dispersed in the PVDF matrix and an interfacial adhesion between MWCNT and PVDF was achieved, which was responsible for the enhancement in the tensile strength and modulus of PVDE.

Enhanced electrocatalytic activity for H_2O_2 production by the oxygen reduction reaction: Rational control of the structure and composition of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Hydrogen peroxide(H2O2)is a very useful chemical reagent,but the current industrial methods for its production suffer from serious energy consumption problems.Using high-activity and high-selectivity catalysts to electrocatalyze the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)through a two-electron(2e^-)pathway is a very promising route to produce H2O2.In this work,we obtained partially oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs)with controlled structure and composition by oxidation with concentrated sulfate and potassium permanganate at 40℃ for 1 h(O-CNTs-40-1).The outer layers of O-CNTs-40-1 are damaged with defects and oxygen-containing functional groups,while the inner layers are maintained intact.The optimized structure and composition of the partially oxidized MWCNTs ensure that O-CNTs-40-1 possesses both a sufficient number of catalytic sites and good conductivity.The results of rotating ring disk electrode measurements reveal that,among all oxidized MWCNTs,O-CNTs-40-1 shows the greatest improvement in hydrogen peroxide selectivity(from ~ 30% to ~ 50%)and electron transfer number(from ~ 3.4 to ~ 3.0)compared to those of the raw MWCNTs.The results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements indicate that both the charge-transfer and intrinsic resistances of O-CNTs-40-1 are lower than those of the raw MWCNTs and of the other oxidized MWCNTs.Finally,direct tests of the H2O2 production confirm the greatly improved catalytic activity of O-CNTs-40-1 relative to that of the raw MWCNTs.

Adsorption and desorption phenomena on thermally annealed multi-walled carbon nanotubes by XANES study

The multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs) studied in this work were synthesized by the catalytic chemical vapor deposition(CCVD) process, and were thermally annealed by the hot filament plasma enhanced(HF PE) method at 550℃ for two hours.The x-ray absorption near edge structure(XANES) technique was used to investigate the adsorption and desorption phenomena of the MWCNTs at normal and grazing incidence angles.The adsorbates were found to have different sensitivities to the thermal annealing.The geometry of the incident beam consistently gave information about the adsorption and desorption phenomena.In addition, the adsorption of non-intrinsic potassium quantitatively affected the intrinsic adsorbates and contributed to increase the conductivity of the MWCNTs.The desorption of potassium was almost 70% greater after the thermal annealing.The potassium non-intrinsic adsorbates are from a physisorption mechanism whereas the intrinsic adsorbates result from chemisorption.

FLEXURAL WAVE DISPERSION IN MULTI-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES CONVEYING FLUIDS

Motivated by the great potential of carbon nanotubes for developing nanofluidic devices, this paper presents a nonlocal elastic, Timoshenko multi-beam model with the second order of strain gradient taken into consideration and derives the corresponding dispersion relation of flexural wave in multi-walled carbon nanotubes conveying fuids. The study shows that the moving flow reduces the phase velocity of flexural wave of the lowest branch in carbon nanotubes. The phase velocity of flexural wave of the lowest branch decreases with an increase of flow velocity. However, the effects of flow velocity on the other branches of the wave dispersion are not obvious. The effect of microstructure characterized by nonlocal elasticity on the dispersion of flexural wave becomes more and more remarkable with an increase in wave number.

Synthesis and evaluation of carbon nanotubes composite adsorbent for CO2 capture： a comparative study of CO2 adsorption capacity of single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes

As a preliminary investigation towards obtaining carbon nanotube composite adsorbent for CO2 capture, in this study CO2 adsorption performance of three commercial carbon nanotubes （CNTs） one single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWCNTs）, and two （2） different multi-walled carbon nanotubes （referred to as A-MWCNTs and B-MWCNTs） were evaluated and compared. The purpose of this study was to compare the different types of CNTs and select the best to serve as the solid anchor in the development of a hydrophobic composite adsorbent material for CO2 capture. The N2 physi- sorption of the CNTs was conducted to determine their surface area, pore volume and pore size. In addition, morphology and purity of the CNTs were checked with Transmission Electron Microscopy and Raman Spectroscopy, respectively. The CO2 adsorption capacity of the CNTs was evaluated using Thermo-gravimetric analysis （TGA） at 1.1 bar, at operating temperature ranged from 25 to 55 ~C and at different CO2 feed flow rates, in order to evaluate the effects of these variables on the CO2 adsorption capacity. The results of CO2 adsorption with the TGA show that CO2 adsorption capacity for both SWCNTs and MWCNTs was the highest at 25 ~C. Changing the CO2 flowrates had no significant effect on the adsorption capacity of MWCNTs, but decreasing the CO2 flow rate resulted in the enhancement of the CO2 adsorption capacity of SWCNTs. Overall, it was found that the SWCNTs displayed the highest CO2 adsorption capacity （29.97 gCO2/kg ad- sorbent） when compared to the MWCNTs （12.09 gCO2/kg adsorbent）, indicating a 150% increase in adsorption capacity over MWCNTs.

Polyaniline and multi-walled carbon nanotube composite electrode for rechargeable battery

The multi-walled carbon nanotube was introduced into the polymer matrix (PANI) to improve the electric conductivity as well as mechanical properties of the original polymer matrix.PANI/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composites were synthesized via ex-situ and in-situ polymerization to improve their electrical property.And the DC conductivities of PANI/MWCNT according to content and diameter of MWCNT were measured by four-point probe.The highest electric conductivity of PANI/MWCNT composite is 20 S/cm when 0.3% (mass fraction) MWCNTs with 10 nm in diameter and 15 μm in length are added in composite.

Purified oxygenand nitrogen-modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes as metal-free catalysts for selective olefin hydrogenation

Oxygen and nitrogen-functionalized carbon nanotubes （OCNTs and NCNTs） were applied as metal-free catalysts in selective olefin hydro- genation. A series of NCNTs was synthesized by NH3 post-treatment of OCNTs. Temperature-programmed desorption, N2 physisorption, Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to characterize the surface properties of OCNTs and NCNTs, aiming at a detailed analysis of the type and amount of oxygen- and nitrogen-containing groups as well as surface defects. The gas-phase treatments applied for oxygen and nitrogen functionalization at elevated temperatures up to 600 ℃ led to the increase of surface defects, but did not cause structural damages in the bulk. NCNTs showed a clearly higher activity than the pristine CNTs and OCNTs in the hydrogenation of 1,5-cyclooctadiene, and also the selectivity to cyclooctene was higher. The favorable catalytic properties are ascribed to the nitrogen-containing surface functional groups as well as surface defects related to nitrogen species. In contrast, oxygen-containing surface groups and the surface defects caused by oxygen species did not show clear contribution to the hydrogenation catalysis.

Preconcentration of copper with multi-walled carbon nanotubes pretreated by potassium permanganate cartridge for solid phase extraction prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometry

A procedure for the preconcentration of copper was described in this paper using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) oxidized by potassium permanganate as the adsorbent for the enrichment of trace copper in water samples. Important parameters, such as the sample pH, the concentration and volume of eluent, sample flow rate and volume, and interference of coexisting ions, were investigated. The obtained results indicated that proposed method possessed an excellent analytical performance. The linear range, the detection limit, and precison (RSD) were 1–100 ng/mL (R(2) = 0.9993), 0.32 ng/mL and 2.88%, respectively. The results showed that copper could be adsorbed quantitatively on the pretreated MWCNTs with potassium permanganate, and proposed method was very useful in the monitoring of copper in the environment.

A comparative study of polymer nanocomposites containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplatelets

Featuring exceptional mechanical and functional performance, MWCNTs and graphene(nano)platelets(GNPs or Gn Ps;each platelet below 10 nm in thickness) have been increasingly used for the development of polymer nanocomposites. Since MWCNTs are now cost-effective at US$30 per kg for industrial applications, this work starts by briefly reviewing the disentanglement and surface modification of MWCNTs as well as the properties of the resulting polymer nanocomposites. GNPs can be made through the thermal treatment of graphite intercalation compounds followed by ultrasonication;GNPs would have lower cost yet higher electrical conductivity over 1,400 S cmthan MWCNTs. Through proper surface modification and compounding techniques, both types of fillers can reinforce or toughen polymers and simultaneously add anti-static performance. A high ratio of MWCNTs to GNPs would increase the synergy for polymers. Green, solvent-free systhesis methods are desired for polymer nanocomposites. Perspectives on the limitations, current challenges and future prospects are provided.

Synthesis and Characterization of W-doped TiO_2 Supported by Hybrid Carbon Nanomaterials of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes and C_(60) Fullerene by a Hydrothermal Method

W-doped TiO2 supported by hybrid carbon nanomaterials of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and C60 fullerene was synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method. The material displayed high visible light photocatalytic activity. X-ray diffraction, field emission transmission electron microscopy, ultra violet/visible light absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy were used to characterize the material as photoeatalyst. Photocatalytic activity on the degradation of Rhodamine B dye in an aqueous solution under ultraviolet light and visible light irradiation was also studied. The experimental results indicated that the photocatalytic activity of the material was much higher than that of pure TiO2 or Degussa P25 TiO2.