Obtenção e aplicação biológica de nanocompósitos a base de óxido de grafeno.

Abstract

Graphene since its discovery has received great attention in many different areas. It is a single-atom-thick sheet of hexagonally arrayed sp2-bonded carbon atoms. In this work, carbon nanostructures were obtained by method using sawdust as biomass. The obtaining of nanostructured carbon happened in tube furnace and used a copper foil as base. The carbon nanostructures obtained on copper were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy demonstrated the formation of graphene. On the other hand, this study included the development of a polymer nanocomposites based on two matrix, one biodegradable (based on Agar) and other non-natural (PDMS) with graphene oxide previously functionalization with Ag nanoparticles fillers. The graphene oxide particles were obtained by Hummers and Offeman method and their surface was modified by addition of silver precursor obtained by Pechini method. The graphene oxide particles coated with silver were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy. In the polymer matrices were included different amounts of graphene oxide particles coated with silver. The polymer nanocomposites had antibacterial activity tested against Gram-positive (G+) Staphylococcus aureus and determination of cellular toxicity was performed in cell culture (mouse fibroblasts - NIH/3T3). The results were promising future applications and support these polymer nanocomposites in a wide variety of research on human health.