Functionalized carbon nanotubes （CNTs） were made for the delivery of genes and drugs and CNT-based biosensors. The basis of CNTs is for binding with biomolecules in biomedical applications. The binding tendency with small interfering RNA oligonucleotides and cytotoxicity of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide （CTAB）-coated single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWNTs） were studied. The field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy results show that a SWNT suspension in CTAB solution was well-dispersed and stable. CTAB is the cross-linker between SWNTs and oligonucleotides. The CTAB-coated SWNTs have less cytotoxicity to human umbilical vein endothelial cells than single SWNTs and the cytotoxicity of CTAB-coated SWNTs depended on the concentration of CTAB-coated SWNTs.
The cytotoxicities of single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWNTs） and acid purified single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWNT-COOH） were investigated by spectroscopic analysis. Cell viability and cell apoptosis were applied to assessing the cytotoxicity of SWNT-COOH, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide （CTAB） and acid purified carbon nanotubes modified with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide （SWNT-COOH/CTAB）. The results indicate that SWNTs are more toxic than SWNT-COOH. Concentration and time-curve analyses indicate that cytotoxicity of SWNT-COOH/CTAB is more related to the toxicity of the surfactant CTAB. The cytotoxicity effect of CTAB and SWNT-COOH/CTAB is acceptable at low concentrations （0.5-25μg/mL）. The cytotoxicity observation suggests that SWNT-COOH/CTAB can safely applied to biomedical field at low concentrations （0.5-25μg/mL）.
