Hydrothermal carbonization and other nano particle work
So tomorrow we'll be mucking about in the lab and are gonna be trying out some various nano particle synthesis. I'll put link to the papers and if someone needs one of them i'll throw them in the community thing.
We're looking into a technique called hydrothermal carbonization. Basically it lets you take a carbon compound or structure and convert it all into carbon nanotubels and nano particles or graphene oxides. If you use a large carbon structure like a piece of wood it'll retain it's shape. The one I'm most interested in and the one that has immediate use for biohacking is the hydrothermal carbonization of chitosan. It produced tiny carbon nanodots that were uv responsive and biosafe. They easily pass into cells and glow when exposed to uv. You could throw them into some DMSO and paint yourself a temporary glowing arm. Best part is you'd maybe be able to directly image cells on your skin since the things give off their own light they make the cells they're in super visable. I'd imagine if it entered your blood stream you veins would glow. but fuck knows if that's safe.
We're looking into a technique called hydrothermal carbonization. Basically it lets you take a carbon compound or structure and convert it all into carbon nanotubels and nano particles or graphene oxides. If you use a large carbon structure like a piece of wood it'll retain it's shape. The one I'm most interested in and the one that has immediate use for biohacking is the hydrothermal carbonization of chitosan. It produced tiny carbon nanodots that were uv responsive and biosafe. They easily pass into cells and glow when exposed to uv. You could throw them into some DMSO and paint yourself a temporary glowing arm. Best part is you'd maybe be able to directly image cells on your skin since the things give off their own light they make the cells they're in super visable. I'd imagine if it entered your blood stream you veins would glow. but fuck knows if that's safe.
All that aside the coolest part is that it's essentially made of shrimp shells and water in some pipe fittings that you leave in the oven for a few hours on low.
Will post results and such later. If you have any ideas for things we should try let us know and if you want a quick explanation of the whole process in detail HERE is the video
the paper:
One-step synthesis of amino-functionalized fluorescent carbon
nanoparticles by hydrothermal carbonization of chitosanw
the paper:
One-step synthesis of amino-functionalized fluorescent carbon
nanoparticles by hydrothermal carbonization of chitosanw
Comments
http://www.particleandfibretoxicology.com/content/11/1/59
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23751780
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20155580
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl060162e
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0958166907001553
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3436504?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asp/jnn/2006/00000006/00000005/art00021
The study mentioned only discussed cytotoxicity in vitro. There are numerous contradictory studies. There have been so many studies at this point finding genotoxicity and carcinogenicity in carbon nano-particles. Very potent carcinogen if inhaled as dust... also when injected. The DMSO route may be novel, but if anything it will enhance the likelihood of cancer. Yeah.. This is not even remotely biosafe. You must be working with Glims now.
Ok, so C60 and C70 fullerenes specifically have been to prolong lifespan in mice. This is cool, but carbon nanotubes and particles in general can be very dangerous. They are often compared to asbestos. They accumulate in cells throughout the body and cause granulomas and fibrosis. I've had patients before with peritoneal cancer. It's not a fun condition. Once again, please do a bit more research. This is not a biosafe substance.
HPLC would be awesome, but I've still yet to find a cheap place to do it.
On a side note, if you go back and read what I originally wrote without what you assume my tone to be... it's actually rather neutral. If you really want to make a deal out of this though, cool.
This article is really good. It discusses different color fluorescence etc.
Also, a reduced type of graphene ox can make a layer resistant to corrosive acids.
Of course the anode aspect is of great potential.