Early Combination of Material Characteristics and Toxicology Is Useful in the Design of Low Toxicity Carbon Nanofiber

Materials

Ellen K. Jensen⁴  Sten Y. Larsen³  Unni C. Nygaard¹  Calin D. Marioara² 

[1]Department of Environmental Immunology, Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, PO Box 4404 Nydalen, Oslo NO-0403, Norway

[2] E-Mail:

[3]Department of Synthesis and Properties, SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, Trondheim NO-7465, Norway

[4] E-Mail:

[5]Elkem Carbon AS, PO Box 8040 Vaagsbygd, Kristiansand NO-4675, Norway

[6] E-Mail:

[7]Statoil ASA, Stavanger NO-4035, Norway

关键词: carbon nanofiber;    toxicity;    characterization;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma5091560

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

This paper describes an approach for the early combination of material characterization and toxicology testing in order to design carbon nanofiber (CNF) with low toxicity. The aim was to investigate how the adjustment of production parameters and purification procedures can result in a CNF product with low toxicity. Different CNF batches from a pilot plant were characterized with respect to physical properties (chemical composition, specific surface area, morphology, surface chemistry) as well as toxicity by in vitro and in vivo tests. A description of a test battery for both material characterization and toxicity is given. The results illustrate how the adjustment of production parameters and purification, thermal treatment in particular, influence the material characterization as well as the outcome of the toxic tests. The combination of the tests early during product development is a useful and efficient approach when aiming at designing CNF with low toxicity. Early quality and safety characterization, preferably in an iterative process, is expected to be efficient and promising for this purpose. The toxicity tests applied are preliminary tests of low cost and rapid execution. For further studies, effects such as lung inflammation, fibrosis and respiratory cancer are recommended for the more in-depth studies of the mature CNF product.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.