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EDITORIAL article

Front. Carbon
Sec. Diamond and Diamond-Like Carbon
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frcrb.2024.1521817
This article is part of the Research Topic Women in Carbon Science and Technology View all 10 articles

Editorial: Women in Carbon Science and Technology "The Many Shades of Carbon"

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Saint Louis University, St. Louis, United States
  • 2 University of Trento, Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy
  • 3 Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland
  • 4 Institute for Physical Chemical Processes, Department of Chemical Sciences and Materials Technologies, National Research Council (CNR), Messina, Italy
  • 5 Sports Psychology Laboratory, School of Physical Education, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil., Belo Horizonte, Mato Grosso, Brazil
  • 6 Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The advent of carbon nanomaterials in their diverse dimensionalities, from carbon dots and fullerenes to single-or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs or MWCNTs), graphene (single or few-layered) and graphene derivatives (graphene oxide, graphyne, or graphane), has introduced a myriad of new opportunities for both fundamental and applied scientific research and sparked industrial applications (De Volder et al., 2013). Indeed, carbon nanotubes and graphene possess a unique set of impressive mechanical, optical, electrical, and thermal properties (Geim and Novoselov, 2007), which make them ideal building blocks for the next generation of technologies. At the same time, the recent discovery of intensely fluorescent and ecofriendly carbon nanoparticles in the visible range offers numerous applications in sensing, bio-imaging, energy conversion, electronics, and nanomedicine (Liu et al., 2020).Because carbon is one of the most versatile materials, it can be processed from a variety of sources, both naturally and synthetically, and added to other materials, heterostructures, and matrices to fabricate novel carbon-based composites with enhanced and/or tailored properties. This collection of articles presents several original works as well as a review article, which describe and address challenges associated with carbon nanomaterials, in the ways they are synthesized or processed, as well as their uses in a wide range of applications, from flexible sensors to biomedical devices to sustainable water treatments, just to name a few. With reference to this latter application field, as reported here, carbon nanotubes/nanofibers were synthesized on an ultrabasic rock, such as serpentinite, to obtain a composite material for removing organic pollutants, such as sulfentrazone, from water. Also, other forms of carbon materials were shown here to be an effective water treatment remedy, and the mechanisms by which multidimensional graphene nanostructures adsorb a common contaminant like paracetamol were elucidated.One main trust related to graphene applications is its efficient dispersion in solutions; this is often addressed by the use of graphene derivatives, such as graphene oxide (GO), which offers an exciting opportunity to be efficiently mixed with other materials, such as polymers, due to the presence of several functional groups. To this end, GO was shown here to be incorporated into PEDOT:PSS and PEDOT for the production of conductive inks, later used as active layers in flexible methanol sensor devices. New fabrication processes involving GO reinforced polymers, for example, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), were shown to be scalable and, therefore, compatible with industrial settings.In general, to tune the properties of carbon nanomaterials, including their ability to be successfully interfaced with other materials, their chemical structure has to be by proper functionalization strategies, which can be investigated through theoretical and experimental approaches. For example, the theoretical investigation of the electronic properties, such as the band structure and the spatial distributions of the electronic states in quantum corrals resulting from fractal architectures of carbon atoms, can guide the synthesis of novel fractal nanostructures, highlighting new functionalization possibilities. Additionally, the structure of GO contains oxygenated functional groups that can act as anchor points for various species, such as biomolecules or medicines, through different synthetic approaches, as reported here. In general, the biomedical and medical fields can significantly benefit from the applications of carbon nanomaterials, because of their intrinsic biocompatibility. For example, carbon dots can be directly incorporated into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to produce fluorescent films for wearable bio-chemical sensors or therapeutic remedies. They could serve as both colorimetric pH sensors to monitor pH changes characterizing wound healing processes or as antioxidants in the wound treatment for developing bioactive dressings. On the other hand, understanding the potential toxicity of carbon nanomaterials, heterostructures and other derivatives, is an area of intense investigation because they are, often, interfaced with human body and biological samples. In this respect, here authors investigate the behavior of normal and cancer affected cells, their viability and spreading on the bed of SWCNTs and heterostructures of SWCNTs and ZnO nanowires. While both materials are biocompatible, the concentration of released Zn + ions indicated to play a critical role. In a different study, the biodistribution of polyethylene glycol-functionalized SWCNTs is analyzed after intravenous delivery to assess their capability to cross biological membranes and reach specific rat brain sites, such as brain cortex parenchyma, without acute toxic effects.In this collection, the diversity of carbon nanomaterials and their wide-ranging applications reflect the dynamic nature of the field. The innovative research presented here not only advances fundamental science but also opens new avenues for technological and biomedical applications. We hope this body of work continues to inspire collaboration and progress in carbon-based research and technology. This collection is dedicated to Professor Mildred Dresselhaus (1930-2017), whose lifelong commitment to science and technology, pioneering work in the field of carbon research, and inspiring mentorship and support of women in science have earned her a loving attribute of "Queen of Carbon" (Chung, 2017).

    Keywords: Carbon based applications, carbon dots, Carbon based composites, Carbon nanotubes, graphene oxide

    Received: 02 Nov 2024; Accepted: 18 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kuljanishvili, Pantano, Borin Barin, Striccoli, Goulart Silva and Ivaturi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Irma Kuljanishvili, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, United States
    Maria F. Pantano, University of Trento, Trento, 38122, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy

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