Enzymatic Degradation of Carbon Nanotubes

Currently, it is known that carbon nanotubes can cause negative effects such as inflammation, oxidative stress, and cell death. As such, a means to alleviate these effects through breakdown of such a material is necessary. Up until this point, methods for degrading nanotubes, or cutting nanotubes, involved the use of harsh solvents consisting of H2SO4 and high concentrations of H2O2. When dealing with environmental issues it is important not to introduce any contaminants harsher than what is being cleaned. In our work, we have shown the natural degradation of single-walled carbon nanotubes through enzymatic catalysis. By incubating carbon nanotubes with a common enzyme, horseradish peroxidase, and low levels of H2O2 (40 µM) under static conditions, these nanomaterials are oxidized. For more information visit: http://www.pitt.edu/~astar/.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• HRP
• CNT
• Enzymatic
• Degradation
• Carbon
• Nanotubes
• Horseradish peroxidase

[renlei1982]

Interesting, but what's the binding site and how close the nanotube is to the heme? After degradation, what the nanotube turned into?