CNF a Cousin of CNT Is Offering a New Arena for Nanomedicine Studies
摘要
The unique properties of various nanoparticles have led to their various applications, especially in living systems. The nano-sized particles are suitable for interacting with nano-sized organs and biomolecules. The application of various nanomaterials to different areas of medicine demands doping, conjugating, and attaching various suitable moieties to the nanoparticles. The areas where nanotechnology has contributed in nanomedicine fields using natural and synthetic nanoparticles encompass therapies and diagnostics for cardiac problems, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and disorders; antibacterial treatment, tissue engineering, targeted drug delivery, dental applications, bone regeneration, and many more. Various nanoforms of carbon such as carbon nanotubes (CNT), fullerene, carbon dots (CD), graphene, etc., have been extensively studied for their application in health care and nanomedicine. This chapter concentrates on the potential of carbon nanofibers (CNF) and their nanocomposites/nanoconjugates in the various fields of Nanomedicine. CNF is a noncontinuous 1D nanostructure displaying various shapes consisting of stacked or curved broken graphene sheets arranged in different ways. CNFs have been known to have high advantages over other carbon nanostructures depending on their high aspect ratio, electrical conductivity, and specific surface area so that their shielding effectiveness is superior. CNF has been shown to have the potential to induce immune tolerance, high tolerant scaffolds in tissue engineering, orthopedic implants, cell adhesion assays, cancer therapy, and as bioactives. The chapter provides an insight into several research studies done on the suitability of CNF nanocomposites in the field of medicines and the possibility of improvement over the existing materials in theranostics.