Sulforaphane is a naturally occurring active substance found in vegetables that is known for its potential in preventing and treating cancer. This compound has demonstrated promising effects in inhibiting the growth of various types of cancer, including esophageal, lung, colon, breast, and liver cancer. However, its instability towards pH and heat limits its application in the medical and food industries. To address this challenge, novel drug delivery systems have been developed to improve the stability and efficacy of sulforaphane, making it a more suitable candidate for clinical use in cancer research. In this study, nanocomposite materials were prepared using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and chitosan (CS) as base materials, with polydopamine (PDA) acting as a bridge material. The synthesized composite materials were used as drug carriers for the release of sulforaphane. The results of the study showed that the drug loading increased with an increase in the concentration of sulforaphane, indicating that the nanocomposite materials were effective in delivering and releasing the drug. Moreover, a positive correlation was observed between the drug loading and the thickness of the PDA layer. These findings suggest that the use of MWCNTs, CS, and PDA in the development of drug delivery systems can enhance the stability and efficacy of sulforaphane, potentially leading to improved cancer treatment outcomes.

In this study, the refinement of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) derived from chemical vapor decomposition is investigated. An ultrasonic pretreatment method is employed to disentangle carbon and metal impurities intertwined with MWCNTs. The pretreated MWCNTs exhibit a marginal decrease in C–O/C = O content from 8.9 to 8.8%, accompanied by a 2.5% increase in sp3 carbon content, indicating a mildly destructive pretreatment approach. Subsequently, selective oxidation by CO2 and hydrochloric acid etching are utilized to selectively remove carbon impurities and residual metal, respectively. The resulting yield of intact MWCNTs is approximately 85.65 wt.%, signifying a 19.91% enhancement in the one-way yield of pristine MWCNTs. Notably, the residual metal content experiences a substantial reduction from 9.95 ± 2.42 wt.% to 1.34 ± 0.06 wt.%, representing a 15.68% increase in the removal rate. These compelling findings highlight the potential of employing a mild purification process for MWCNTs production, demonstrating promising application prospects.

In this study, an empirical relationship between the energy band gap of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and synthesis parameters in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor using factorial design of experiment was established. A bimetallic (Fe-Ni) catalyst supported on CaCO3 was synthesized via wet impregnation technique and used for MWCNT growth. The effects of synthesis parameters such as temperature, time, acetylene flow rate, and argon carrier gas flow rate on the MWCNTs energy gap, yield, and aspect ratio were investigated. The as-prepared supported bimetallic catalyst and the MWCNTs were characterized for their morphologies, microstructures, elemental composition, thermal profiles and surface areas by high-resolution scanning electron microscope, high resolution transmission electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermal gravimetry analysis and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller. A regression model was developed to establish the relationship between band gap energy, MWCNTs yield and aspect ratio. The results revealed that the optimum conditions to obtain high yield and quality MWCNTs of 159.9% were: temperature (700ºC), time (55 min), argon flow rate (230.37 mL min–1) and acetylene flow rate (150 mL min–1) respectively. The developed regression models demonstrated that the estimated values for the three response variables; energy gap, yield and aspect ratio, were 0.246 eV, 557.64 and 0.82. The regression models showed that the energy band gap, yield, and aspect ratio of the MWCNTs were largely influenced by the synthesis parameters and can be controlled in a CVD reactor.

The sol-gel technique has been studied to fabricate a homogeneous Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst. Ambient effects (air, Ar, and H2) on thermal decomposition of the citrate precursor have been systematically investigated to fabricate an Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst. Severe agglomeration of metal catalyst was observed under thermal decomposition of citrate precursor in air atmosphere. Ar/H2 atmosphere effectively restricted agglomeration of bimetallic catalyst and formation of highly-dispersed Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst with high specific surface-area due to the formation of Fe-Mo nanoclusters within MgO support. High-quality thin-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (t-MWCNTs) with uniform diameters were achieved on a large scale by catalytic decomposition of methane over Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst prepared under Ar-atmosphere. The produced t-MWCNTs had outer diameters in the range of 4-8 nm (average diameter ~6.6 nm) and wall numbers in the range of 4-7 graphenes. The as-synthesized t-MWCNTs showed product yields over 450% relative to the utilized Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst, and indicated a purity of about 85%.

Well-aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were successfully synthesized by catalytic chemical vapor deposition using a hydrogen sulfide (H2S) additive onto Al/Fe thin film deposited on Si wafers. Transmission electron microscopy images indicated that the as-grown carbon products were thin MWCNTs with small outer diameters of less than 10 nm. H2S plays a key role in synthesizing thin MWCNTs with a large inside hollow core. The well-aligned thin MWCNTs showed a low turn-on voltage of about 1.1 V/μm at a current density of 0.1 μA/cm2 and a high emission current of about 1.0 mA/cm2 at a bias field of 2.3 V/μm. We suggest a possible growth mechanism for the well-aligned thin MWCNTs with a large inside hollow core.

Conducting polymer-coated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared by template polymerization in order to enhance their gas sensitivity. This investigation of the conducting polymer phases that formed on the surface of the MWCNTs is based on field-emission scanning electron microscopy images. The thermal stability of the conducting polymer-coated MWCNTs was significantly improved by the high thermal stability of MWCNTs. The synergistic effects of the conducting polymer-coated MWCNTs improve the gas-sensing properties. MWCNTs coated with polyaniline uniformly show outstanding improvement in gas sensitivity to NH3 due to the synergistic combination of efficient adsorption of NH3 gas and variation in the conduction of electrons.

We prepared the amine epoxy adducts (AEA)/thin multiwalled carbon nanotubes (TWCNTs) composite particles using nonsolvent based methods including dry mechano-chemical bonding(MCB) process and supercritical fluid (SCF) process. The resulting TWCNTs/AEA composite particles have been used as curing agents for urethane modified bispheol A type epoxy resin. The thermal, thermomechanical properties of the epoxy resins cured with TWCNTs/AEA composite particles were measured by DMA and the dispersion of CNT was characterized by SEM. Because of high degree of CNT dispersion, thermal and mechanical properties of the epoxy resin cured with TWCNTs/AEA composite particles prepared by SCF process are better than those cured with mechano-chemically prepared TWCNTs/AEA composite particles.

Dispersion of the functionalized multiwalled nanotubes (MWNT) in the polyurethane (PU) matrix and DC conductivity of the MWNT/PU composites are investigated with the oxidation conditions, the kind of surfactants and their content. First, the most optimal surfactant type and its critical micelle concentration in the MWNT suspension are determined as a cationic surfactant, benzalkonium chloride (BKC) of 0.6 wt.% to the MWNT content from DEA and FESEM results. All the MWNT oxidized under several conditions are negatively charged and functionalized with carboxylic group, whereas the degree of damage is different from oxidation conditions. In addition, each MWNT/PU composite derived from several oxidation conditions shows different DC conductivity at a characteristic MWNT content. It is found that in order to enhance DC conductivity of the polymeric composites containing the oxidized MWNT the better dispersion of MWNT should be obtained by effective functionalities and surfactant adsorption with preserving the intrinsic geometry of pristine MWNT.

The synthetic methods for high yield of multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) and singlewalled carbon nanotube (SWNT) with high purity by arc discharge have been investigated. MWNTs were synthesized under different pressures of helium and the gas mixture of argon and hydrogen. Relatively high pressure of 300-400 torr was required for high yield MWNTs synthesis at low bias voltage of about 20 V and 55 A, whereas low pressure of about 100 torr was required for SWNTs. The introduction of hydrogen gases during the synthesis of MWNTs improved the yield and purity of the samples. The SWNTs were synthesized by the assistance of a small amount of mixture of transition metals, which played as a catalyst during the formation process. The purity and yield of SWNTs were higher at a lower pressure and enhanced by mixing more components of the transition metals.