22
11. Examination of the filtrate via UV-Vis allows monitoring the
purification of the solid material.
12. The objective is to create pores across the sidewalls of CNHs
allowing the release of the drug/biomolecule via diffusion
from the interior of the CNH to the target.
13. The selection of the solvent is related to the property of DMF
to stabilize well the CNHs. Further, the drug/biomolecule
must be well dissolved prior to the addition of the opened
CNHs. Therefore, if the mentioned concentration (4 mg/
mL) of the drug/biomolecule is not achievable, increase the
amount of the required solvent. The method is based on the
slow evaporation of the solvent inducing the aggregation of
the drug/biomolecule in the interior of CNHs.
14. Examination of the filtrate via UV-Vis allows monitoring the
purification of the solid material.
5 Conclusions
Although the synthesis of CNHs requires advanced infrastructure,
the overall procedure is simple and straightforward, since no posttreatment or purification is needed. Alternatively, CNHs can be
purchased in the market. As presented in detail, the synthesis of
CNH-based nanocarriers exploits simple methods adopted from
organic chemistry and chemistry of materials and the required purification/isolation is handy and capable of scale-up. It should be
underlined that for all CNH-based materials complementary characterization is necessary in order to evaluate the success of the
described functionalization procedures. Namely, spectroscopic
(UV-Vis, Raman, ATR-IR), thermogravimetric (TGA), and microscopy (AFM, SEM, TEM) techniques are mandatory to verify the
generation of added functionalities or the presence of covalently
grafted drugs/biomolecules, the incorporation of holes on the sidewalls of CNHs, the presence of drugs/biomolecules into the cavity
of CNHs, etc. Concluding, the research on CNH-based delivery
platforms is based on simple chemical protocols and requires wellequipped laboratories for synthesis and characterization and most
importantly interdisciplinary research collaborations in order to
realize CNHs as nanocarriers in living cells and organisms.
Acknowledgments
Partial support by the project “National Infrastructure in
Nanotechnology,
Advanced
Materials
and
Micro-/
Nanoelectronics” (MIS 5002772) which is implemented under
the “Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation
Anastasios Stergiou and Nikos Tagmatarchis
11. Examination of the filtrate via UV-Vis allows monitoring the
purification of the solid material.
12. The objective is to create pores across the sidewalls of CNHs
allowing the release of the drug/biomolecule via diffusion
from the interior of the CNH to the target.
13. The selection of the solvent is related to the property of DMF
to stabilize well the CNHs. Further, the drug/biomolecule
must be well dissolved prior to the addition of the opened
CNHs. Therefore, if the mentioned concentration (4 mg/
mL) of the drug/biomolecule is not achievable, increase the
amount of the required solvent. The method is based on the
slow evaporation of the solvent inducing the aggregation of
the drug/biomolecule in the interior of CNHs.
14. Examination of the filtrate via UV-Vis allows monitoring the
purification of the solid material.
5 Conclusions
Although the synthesis of CNHs requires advanced infrastructure,
the overall procedure is simple and straightforward, since no posttreatment or purification is needed. Alternatively, CNHs can be
purchased in the market. As presented in detail, the synthesis of
CNH-based nanocarriers exploits simple methods adopted from
organic chemistry and chemistry of materials and the required purification/isolation is handy and capable of scale-up. It should be
underlined that for all CNH-based materials complementary characterization is necessary in order to evaluate the success of the
described functionalization procedures. Namely, spectroscopic
(UV-Vis, Raman, ATR-IR), thermogravimetric (TGA), and microscopy (AFM, SEM, TEM) techniques are mandatory to verify the
generation of added functionalities or the presence of covalently
grafted drugs/biomolecules, the incorporation of holes on the sidewalls of CNHs, the presence of drugs/biomolecules into the cavity
of CNHs, etc. Concluding, the research on CNH-based delivery
platforms is based on simple chemical protocols and requires wellequipped laboratories for synthesis and characterization and most
importantly interdisciplinary research collaborations in order to
realize CNHs as nanocarriers in living cells and organisms.
Acknowledgments
Partial support by the project “National Infrastructure in
Nanotechnology,
Advanced
Materials
and
Micro-/
Nanoelectronics” (MIS 5002772) which is implemented under
the “Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation
Anastasios Stergiou and Nikos Tagmatarchis