Page 146 - Polymer-based Nanocomposites for Energy and Environmental Applications

Energy and environmental applications of graphene and its derivatives 121

Fig. 4.16 Schematic overview of various applications of graphene [3].

photothermal cancer therapy [28]. Diverse applications of graphene in biomedical
science are shown in Fig. 4.16 [3]. Graphene is also used in tissue engineering as it
promotes the attachment and proliferation of several mammalian cell lines
[32,105,106]. GO and graphene sheets also comprise antibacterial activity against
wide range of bacteria [32]; they can perfectly inhibits the growth of Escherichia
coli and Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells, thereby acting as a bacte-
ricidal agent [28].The π-π stacking, hydrophobic interactions, and electrostatic
interactions between drugs and graphene-based nanomaterials make it as efficient
drug/gene loading/delivery. The modified GBMs are used to deliver drug/gene to
reduce severe adverse effect and to enhance its therapeutic effect. Graphene and
GBMs are used in gene therapy in order to conquer genetic disorders and tumor
cells/cancer treatment. GBMs are also reported to be used in phototherapy,
multimodality therapy, and theranostics [3]. GBMs possess higher photothermal
conversion coefficient hence also reported to be applied in photothermal therapy
(PTT). In addition, photosensitizer (PS) can be easily incorporated onto the surface
of GBMs to make it viable for photodynamic therapy (PDT). A great number of
other memristive systems based on graphene/GBMs or other carbon-based struc-
tures such as CNTs or amorphous carbon are reported through CVDs epitaxial
growth [107,108] via thermal decomposition of silicon carbide, mechanical, or
liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite [25]. Graphene and GBMs have also been
reported for use in making flexible energy devices having wearable, portable,
and implantable features, such as touch screens, roll-up displays, electronic papers,
smart gloves, wearable electronics, thin films, implantable sensors, papers, and
3-D porous architectures [109]. Some of the most exclusive applications of
graphene excluding energy environment and biosensors are tabulated in Table 4.2.