Cytotoxicity survey of commercial graphene materials from worldwide

Abstract

Graphene and other 2D materials are having a profound impact on science and technology. Unfortunately, progress in this area has not been followed by strict quality controls and toxicity benchmarks. Herein, we report a survey of the cytotoxicity of 36 products nominally labeled as “graphene.” These are available from suppliers worldwide and synthesized through various techniques. Detailed characterization suggests that these products represent a heterogeneous class of materials with varying physicochemical properties and a noticeable quantity of contaminants. We demonstrate that the cellular toxicity of these products is not related to a particular characteristic of graphene; rather, it is fundamentally determined by the presence of impurities in the commercially available graphene family materials tested.