Biological, biomedical, and medical applications of graphene and graphene-based materials (G-bMs)

For now, graphene is probably the strongest material ever discovered. A succinct review of the applications, including: biological, biosensing and bioimaging, biotargeting, medical and biomedical, drug delivery, and antibacterial applications of graphene and graphene-based materials, have been made. However, the cytotoxicity and metabolic characters and behaviors of nanographene-based materials are still of great concern and need to be adequately addressed, prior to clinical applications. For instance, GO-DTPA-Gd/DOX-based materials have been reported to have shown significant cytotoxicity to the cancer cells (HepG2), thus providing a novel strategy to build a GO-based theranostic nanoplatform with T₁-weighted MRI, fluorescence imaging, and drug delivery functionalities. rGO-NS nanohybrids can exhibit tunable optical properties by simply changing the growth reaction parameters, which can improve stability when compared to neat Au nanostars and that there was a sensitive SERS response toward the aromatic organic molecules for biotargeting purposes. For biomarking and biorecognition, aromatic anticancer drug molecules can interact with GO nanosheets through a supramolecular π stacking, in order to achieve a high drug loading capacity and a pH-responsive drug releasing performance. In the biomedical applications terrain, the use of GO-IONP-Au-PEG can be realized, as exemplified in several in-vitro cell tests and in-vivo animal experiments, which were significantly enhanced. In drug delivery, highly oxidized GO can be a superior drug-carrier candidate in-vitro when compared to GOs oxidized to lesser degrees, following the oxidation of GO to distinct degrees, which can be optimized in order to suit the adsorption of the model drug, e.g., poly dT30. Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria can be significantly inhibited by the use of GO-CS-PHGC composites.