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Single-step scalable conversion of waste natural oils to carbon nanowhiskers and their interaction with mammalian cells

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Abstract

Waste cooking oil has daily deliberate hazardous effects on human health due to consumption of re-cooked oil and on the environment from disposal of the waste oil. These hazards can be controlled if there are ways to economically convert the waste oils into industrially relevant materials. Large-scale controlled catalytic conversion of the waste natural oils to carbon nanowhiskers (CNWs; diameter: 98–191 nm, length: ≤2 μm) was achieved by a one-pot, environmentally friendly process. The no-cost CNWs consist of carbon spirals with spacing between two adjacent layers at 3.1 ± 0.2 nm and arranged perpendicular to the whisker axis. The reactions were performed inside a sealed container at 500–850 °C and autogenic pressure for 4–10 h. It was demonstrated that the gaseous pressure from the decomposition of the fatty acids was crucial for formation of the semi-graphitic filamentous structures. The dilute acid-washed catalyst free CNWs were found to be negligibly toxic to the mammalian cells and can be localized inside the cell nucleus. The cellular internalization studies of the fluorescent CNWs demonstrated their viability as potential delivery vehicles into the mammalian cells.

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Acknowledgments

AD and AS thank the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi and PD thanks IISER Kolkata for their fellowships. PD and SM acknowledge the help of Ritabrata Ghosh for confocal microscopy. Start-up research funding from IISER Kolkata is duly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Nadia, Mohanpur, Kolkata, 741252, WB, India

    Abheek Datta, Anustup Sadhu & Sayan Bhattacharyya

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Nadia, Mohanpur, Kolkata, 741252, WB, India

    Priyanka Dutta & Sankar Maiti

Authors
  1. Abheek Datta
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  2. Priyanka Dutta
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  3. Anustup Sadhu
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  4. Sankar Maiti
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  5. Sayan Bhattacharyya
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Correspondence to Sayan Bhattacharyya.

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Datta, A., Dutta, P., Sadhu, A. et al. Single-step scalable conversion of waste natural oils to carbon nanowhiskers and their interaction with mammalian cells. J Nanopart Res 15, 1808 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-1808-x

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