Combination of mussel inspired method and “thiol-michael” click reaction for biocompatible alginate-modified carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted great interest in biomedical fields. However, the potential toxicity and poor dispersion of CNTs have greatly limited its application. In this work, a mussel-inspired method combined with the “thiol-Michael” click reaction was used to modify the surface of CNT and improve its properties. Firstly, a CNT was treated with dopamine, and then alginate grafted with L-cysteine was anchored onto the surface of CNT via click reaction, which realized the long-time dispersion of CNT in water. Furthermore, the in vitro test also demonstrated that the alginate may improve the biocompatibility of CNT, and thus may broaden the application of CNT in the biomedical field.