Fabrication and characterization of hyperbranched polyglycerol modified carbon nanotubes through the host-guest interactions

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are novel carbon composites that have received extensive research attention for biomedical applications thanks to their excellent cell membrane penetration capability and large specific surface areas. Nevertheless, the poor dispersibility in aqueous solution still perplexes the biomedical applications of CNTs. Although, there are many researched about that modify hydrophilic polymers to the surface of CNTs, facile and efficient strategies are still highly desirable to be developed. In this produce, an efficient and facile strategy for surface modification of CNTs with excellent water dispersibility was developed via supramolecular chemistry. On the one hand, we synthesize the β-CD-HPG via anionic polymerization. On the other hand, adamantane chloride was first reacted with the hydroxyl group of radiant CNTs through esterification to obtain CNT-Ad. Finally, it only need mild reaction conditions and fast reaction time (30 min) that β-CD-HPG form an exact 1:1 inclusion complex with CNT-Ad via host-guest interaction. The successful preparation of CNT-β-CD-HPG composites could be confirmed via a series of characterization techniques. Then, we further verify that CNT-β-CD-HPG composites possess the remarkable water dispersibility and enormous potential for controlled drug delivery systems. Therefore the facile strategy for the preparation of CNT-β-CD-HPG composites with excellent water dispersibility via supramolecular chemistry would possess rosy prospects in biomedical applications.