Rational design and engineering of functionalized carbon nano-onions reinforced polymer nanocomposites for biomedical applications

Abstract

Recently, materials chemistry has become an extensively studied research area due to its opportunity of creating or modifying existing materials, intending to improve biological, chemical, and mechanical properties and to further incorporate or substitute traditional methods. Carbon nano-onions (CNOs) are carbonaceous nanostructures that pose excellent physicochemical properties and when its surface gets modified in conjugation with biomaterials, the complex gains improved capabilities as drug uptake efficacy, tensile strength, thermal stability, hydrophobicity, cytocompatibility, thermosensitivity, drug release profile, among others, with potential application in a broad range of areas compared with pristine biomaterials. In this thesis, CNOs were fabricated, functionalized, and reinforced with different biomaterials to create emerging nanostructures to study their influence in mechanical, biological, and chemical properties in orthopedics and drug delivery applications. Herein, three different CNOs, poly 4-mercaptophenyl methacrylate (PMPMA)-CNOs, poly 4-hydroxyphenyl methacrylate (PHPMA)-CNOs, and poly (N-(4-aminophenyl) methacrylamide)) (PAPMA)-CNOs were attached to polymer-based nanocomposites for their potential use in orthopedic and drug delivery applications. In all cases, physicochemical properties of nanocomposites were systematically studied, as well as cytocompatibility studies to evaluate cell viability and proliferation, showing an increase in cytocompatibility with osteoblast cells and augmented tensile strength, toughness, and Young's modulus. In conclusion, the addition of functionalized CNOs considerably influences the mechanical and biological properties which could be advantageously used in biomedical applications.