Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube-functionalized Bijels-derived Porous Nanocomposites for Medical Applications

Abstract

<p>Structures having continuous porous networks are of great interest for applications in areas such as separation, energy storage and tissue engineering. Bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels (“bijels”) provide good templates for fabricating interconnected porous structures for such applications. However, the fabrication of bijels-templated porous nanocomposites incorporated with reinforcing or functional nanoparticles (or, nanofibers) to provide specific, targeted functions is still a great challenge, stemming from the difficulties of fabricating functional nanoparticle (or, nanofiber)-containing bijels. In this study, bijels-derived porous nanocomposites incorporated with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which possessed interconnected channels inside the fabricated structures, were made via a facile phase-inversion technique for bijels fabrication. For MWCNT-containing bijels, it was observed that within a MWCNT concentration range, MWCNTs were physically absorbed into the oil phase of bijels without disrupting the bicontinuous structure of bijels. The resulting MWCNT-containing bijels preserved the distinctive bicontinuous feature of original bijels and subsequently after withdrawing the water phase, the final bijels-derived, MWCNT-containing nanocomposite structures were highly porous and had interconnecting pore channels. For exploring controlled drug delivery, doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX), an anticancer drug, was incorporated into bijels-derived porous nanocomposites. In vitro DOX release experiments for drug delivery systems based on bijels-derived, MWCNT-containing nanocomposites showed that the photothermal effect of MWCNTs initiated by near-infrared (NIR) irradiation could modulate the DOX release behavior. This study has developed a facile approach to fabricate bijels incorporated with functional nanoparticles (or, nanofibers) and has established a process to produce nanoparticle (or, nanofiber)-functionalized bijels-derived porous nanocomposites for potential medical applications. In particular, MWCNT-functionalized bijels-derived porous nanocomposites have shown the promise for controlled drug delivery applications.<br></p>