TY - JOUR A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Chen, Y. A1 - Nickl, Philip A1 - Guday, G. A1 - Qiao, H. A1 - Achasi, K. A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Böttcher, C. A1 - Chen, W. A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Self-degrading graphene sheets for tumor therapy JF - Nanoscale N2 - Low biodegradability of graphene derivatives and related health risks are the main limiting factors for their in vivo biomedical applications. Here, we present the synthesis of enzyme-functionalized graphene sheets with self-degrading properties under physiological conditions and their applications in Tumor therapy. The synergistic enzyme cascade glucose oxidase and myeloperoxidase are covalently conjugated to the surface of graphene sheets and two-dimensional (2D) platforms are obtained that can produce sodium hypochlorite from glucose. The enzyme-functionalized graphene sheets with up to 289 nm average size are degraded into small pieces (≤40 nm) by incubation under physiological conditions for 24 h. Biodegradable graphene sheets are further loaded with doxorubicin and their ability for Tumor therapy is evaluated in vitro and in vivo. The laser-triggered release of doxorubicin in combination with the enzymatic activity of the functionalized graphene sheets results in a synergistic antitumor activity. Taking advantage of their neutrophil-like activity, fast biodegradability, high photo- and chemotherapeutic effects, the novel two-dimensional nanoplatforms can be used for tumor therapeutic applications. KW - Graphene KW - Self-degrading KW - Thumor therapy KW - XPS KW - NEXAFS PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d0nr02159h SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-50978 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Azab, W. A1 - Cuellar-Camach, J.L. A1 - Guday, G. A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Osterrieder, K. A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Functionalized nanographene sheets with high antiviral activity through synergistic electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions JF - Nanoscale N2 - As resistance to traditional drugs emerges for treatment of Virus infections, the need for new methods for virus inhibition increases. Graphene derivatives with large surface areas have shown strong activity against different viruses. However, the inability of current synthetic protocols to accurately manipulate the structure of graphene sheets in order to control their antiviral activity remains a major challenge. In this work, a series of graphene derivatives with defined polyglycerol sulfate and fatty amine functionalities have been synthesized and their interactions with herpes simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1) are investigated. While electrostatic interactions between polyglycerol sulfate and virus particles trigger the binding of graphene to virus, alkyl chains induce a high antiviral activity by secondary hydrophobic interactions. Among graphene sheets with a broad range of alkyl chains, (C3–C18), the C12-functionalized sheets showed the highest antiviral activity, indicating the optimum synergistic effect between electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, but this derivative was toxic against the Vero cell line. In contrast, sheets functionalized with C6- and C9-alkyl chains showed low toxicity against Vero cells and a synergistic Inhibition of HSV-1. This study shows that antiviral agents against HSV-1 can be obtained by controlled and stepwise functionalization of graphene sheets and may be developed into antiviral agents for future biomedical applications. KW - Functionalized nanographene KW - X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) KW - NEXAFS KW - Antiviral activity PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c9nr05273a SN - 2040-3364 VL - 11 IS - 34 SP - 15804 EP - 15809 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-48807 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Guday, G. A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Gholami, M. F. A1 - Algara-Siller, G. A1 - Witte, F. A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Paulus, B. A1 - Rabe, J. A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Scalable Production of Nanographene and Doping via Nondestructive Covalent Functionalization JF - Small N2 - A new method for top‐down, one‐pot, gram‐scale production of high quality nanographene by incubating graphite in a dilute sodium hypochlorite solution at only 40 °C is reported here. The produced sheets have only 4 at% oxygen content, comparable with nanographene grown by chemical vapor deposition. The nanographene sheets are covalently functionalized using a nondestructive nitrene [2+1] cycloaddition reaction that preserves their π‐conjugated system. Statistical analyses of Raman spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicate a low number of sp3 carbon atoms on the order of 2% before and 4% after covalent functionalization. The nanographene sheets are significantly more conductive than conventionally prepared nanographene oxide, and conductivity further increases after covalent functionalization. The observed doping effects and theoretical studies suggest sp2 hybridization for the carbon atoms involved in the [2+1] cycloaddition reaction leading to preservation of the π‐conjugated system and enhancing conductivity via n‐type doping through the bridging N‐atom. These methods are easily scalable, which opens the door to a mild and efficient process to produce high quality nanographenes and covalently functionalize them while retaining or improving their physicochemical properties. KW - Graphene KW - XPS KW - NEXAFS PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201805430 VL - 15 IS - 12 SP - 1805430 PB - WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-48021 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -