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Water-stable single-walled carbon nanotubes coated by pyrenyl polyethylene glycol for fluorescence imaging and photothermal therapy

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Abstract

Nanomaterials have recently received significant attention as photothermal agents and fluorescence contrast agents for molecular therapeutics due to their unique optical properties (e.g. light absorption). In particular, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been recently utilized as photothermal agents (for photothermal therapy) because of the solubility of SWNTs as well as their light absorbing capability at the near-infrared region. In this work, we have developed the SWNT-based photothermal agents using pyrene-based PEGylation of SWNTs. FT-IR and/or H-NMR spectroscopies have validated the PEGylation of SWNTs, and it is shown that water-soluble SWNTs are able to generate heat under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation of 5W/cm2. Moreover, it is found that our pyrene-based PEGylated SWNTs exhibit the fluorescence characteristic under the excitation wavelength of 340 nm. Our study sheds light on the pyrenyl PEGylated SWNTs as photothermal agents and/or fluorescence contrast agents for the future applications in molecular therapeutics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korea University, Seoul, 136-701, Korea

    Kuewhan Jang

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, 220-710, Korea

    Kilho Eom, Gyudo Lee & Taeyun Kwon

  3. Department of Energy IT, Gachon University, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, 461-701, Korea

    Jae-Hee Han

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-751, Korea

    Seungjoo Haam

  5. Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-752, Korea

    Jaemoon Yang

  6. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Gachon University, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, 461-701, Korea

    Eunseon Kim & Woo-Jae Kim

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  1. Kuewhan Jang
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  2. Kilho Eom
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  3. Gyudo Lee
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  4. Jae-Hee Han
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  5. Seungjoo Haam
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  7. Eunseon Kim
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  8. Woo-Jae Kim
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  9. Taeyun Kwon
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Woo-Jae Kim or Taeyun Kwon.

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Jang, K., Eom, K., Lee, G. et al. Water-stable single-walled carbon nanotubes coated by pyrenyl polyethylene glycol for fluorescence imaging and photothermal therapy. BioChip J 6, 396–403 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13206-012-6412-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13206-012-6412-0

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