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Bioavailability of Metallic Impurities in Carbon Nanotubes Is Greatly Enhanced by Ultrasonication
Author(s) -
Toh Rou Jun,
Ambrosi Adriano,
Pumera Martin
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201201955
Subject(s) - sonication , bioavailability , carbon nanotube , impurity , materials science , metal , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , nanotoxicology , nanoparticle , chemistry , organic chemistry , metallurgy , bioinformatics , engineering , biology
Metallic impurities within carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are considered as the main cause of their toxicity. Ultrasonication is a common procedure used to purify and obtain homogeneous dispersions of CNTs as well as to mix them with other components for further processing into composites. Herein, the influence of ultrasonication upon the bioavailability of metallic impurities in CNTs was investigated. We showed that even ultrasonication times as short as 5 min significantly enhanced the bioavailability of metallic impurities, which can therefore interact more actively with biologically important molecules. These findings will have profound impact on the processing of CNTs as well as on nanotoxicity studies.