Abstract

A non-photochemical and metal-free orthogonal route for the covalent incorporation of single-walled carbon nanotubes into a κ-carrageenan-based bioactive hydrogel scaffold is reported. The characterization of materials was carried out by usual analytical techniques and hybrid biohydrogels were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity on HeLa cell lines. The results revealed a significant antiproliferative effect instead of additional cytotoxicity with respect to native hydrogels.

Keywords: Single-walled carbon nanotubes, ‘click’ chemistry, strain-promoted reactions, hydrogels, cytotoxicity