Preparation of 14C-labeled multiwalled carbon nanotubes for biodistribution investigations.
CEA
A new method allowing the (14)C-labeling of carboxylic acid functions of carbon nanotubes is described. The key step of the
labeling process is a decarbonylation reaction that has been developed and optimized with the help of a screening method. The optimized process has been successfully applied to multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), and the corresponding (14)C-labeled nanotubes were used to investigate their in vivo behavior. Preliminary results obtained after i.v. contamination of rats revealed liver as the main target organ. Radiolabeling of NTs with a long-life radioactive nucleus like (14)C, coupled to a highly sensitive autoradiographic method, that provides a unique detection threshold, will make it possible to determine for a long time period whether or not NTs remain in any organs after animal exposure.
Georgin D, Czarny B, Botquin M, Mayne-L'hermite M, Pinault M, Bouchet-Fabre B, Carrière M, Poncy JL, Chau Q, Maximilien R, Dive V, Taran F. 2009. Preparation of 14C-labeled multiwalled carbon nanotubes for biodistribution investigations. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131, 14658-14659.