The current technological development and application of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) unfailingly require the use of chemical tools. Pristine CNTs often need to be chemically processed or functionalized in order to exhibit the most suitable features and to optimize their handling in specific applications. Chemical functionalization stands therefore as a universal means to overcome CNTs insolubility in water, by rendering their surface hydrophilic, a necessary step towards promising biomedical outcomes.^[1]

As a matter of fact, water-dispersible CNTs may not trigger immunitary responses, and also may present high cell uptake along with very low cytotoxicity as compared to their not functionalized counterparts,^[2]stressing out the crucial role of the affinity and stability of CNTs in aqueous media.

Our recent efforts in the functionalization of carbon nanotubes are focused on the condition optimization to achieve a fast and versatile derivatization by introduction of appendages apt to increase dispersibility of the starting materials in polar solvent. The so obtained derivatives may be used as theranostic platform.

[1]      N. Saito, H. Haniu, Y. Usui, K. Aoki, K. Hara, S. Takanashi, M. Shimizu, N. Narita, M. Okamoto, S. Kobayashi, H. Nomura, H. Kato, N. Nishimura, S. Taruta, M. Endo, Chem. Rev. 2013, 11, 6040-6079.

[2]       S. Chen, S. Hu, E. F. Smith, P. Ruenraroengsak, A. J. Thorley, R. Menzel, A. E. Goode, M. P. Ryan, T. D. Tetley, A. E. Porter, M. S. P. Shaffer, Biomaterials 2014, 35, 4729-4862.