Green chemistry approach for the synthesis of biocompatible graphene

Abstract

Background: Graphene is a single-atom thick, two-dimensional sheet of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms isolated from its three-dimensional parent material, graphite. One of the most common methods for preparation of graphene is chemical exfoliation of graphite using powerful oxidizing agents. Generally, graphene is synthesized through deoxygenation of graphene oxide (GO) by using hydrazine, which is one of the most widespread and strongest reducing agents. Due to the high toxicity of hydrazine, it is not a promising reducing agent in large-scale production of graphene; therefore, this study focused on a green or sustainable synthesis of graphene and the biocompatibility of graphene in primary mouse embryonic fibroblast cells (PMEFs). Methods:Here, we demonstrated a simple, rapid, and green chemistry approach for the synthesis of reduced GO (rGO) from GO using triethylamine (TEA) as a reducing agent and stabilizing agent. The obtained TEA reduced GO (TEA-rGO) was characterized by ultraviolet (UV)-visible absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), particle size dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Results: The transition of graphene oxide to graphene was confirmed by UV-visible spectroscopy. XRD and SEM were used to investigate the crystallinity of graphene and the surface morphologies of prepared graphene respectively. The formation of defects further supports the functionalization of graphene as indicated in the Raman spectrum of TEA-rGO. Surface morphology and the thickness of the GO and TEA-rGO were analyzed using AFM. The presented results suggest that TEA-rGO shows significantly more biocompatibility with PMEFs cells than GO. Conclusion: This is the first report about using TEA as a reducing as well as a stabilizing agent for the preparation of biocompatible graphene. The proposed safe and green method offers substitute routes for large-scale production of graphene for several biomedical applications.

Synthesis, toxicity, biocompatibility, and biomedical applications of graphene and graphene-related materials

“…194 Similarly, mouse embryonic fibroblast cells treated with trimethylamine-reduced GO showed increased number and significant attachment. 123 GO reduced by spinach leaf extract enhanced ALP activity in mouse embryonic fibroblast cells. 194 Similarly, GO reduced by G. biloba extract showed significant biocompatibility and increased ALP activity in human breast cancer cells compared to GO.…”

Biofabrication of a novel biomolecule-assisted reduced graphene oxide: an excellent biocompatible nanomaterial

“…GO and rGO induced intracellular ROS production, which implicated it as a mediator of cytotoxicity in cancer cells. 56 To investigate the effect of NAM-rGO on intracellular ROS generation in MEFs cells, we measured the intracellular ROS levels after GO and NAM-rGO exposure. GO treatment led to a significant increase in intracellular ROS generation in a dose-dependent manner compared with that in the control groups.…”

The comparison of antioxidant capacity and cytotoxic, anticarcinogenic,and genotoxic effects of Fe@Au nanosphere magnetic nanoparticles

“…The results of recent studies suggest that silver and gold nanoparticles reduce the viability of some cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. Based on these studies, it is hereby speculated that the cytotoxicity of nanoparticles relies on the nature of cell types and size of particles (Park et al, 2011;Gurunathan et al, 2013). Small particles may have good permeability but poor retention.…”