Synthesis and Comparison between Different Functionalized Carbon nanotubes as Anti-HIV Carrier R.Afshari 1* , S. Mazinani 2 , M.Abdouss 1 , E. Asadi 1 1 Department of Chemistry, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran 2 Amirkabir Nanotechnology Research Institute, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran Introduction : Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are one of the most advanced nano- vectors for highly efficient delivery of drugs and biomolecules owing to their large surface besides including unique optical and electrical properties. They can be conjugated non-covalently or covalently with drugs, biomolecules and nanoparticles towards the development of a new-generation delivery systems for drugs and biomolecules. The hydrophobicity of CNT limits their application in biology. It is highly desirable to modify CNT with different functional groups and incorporate other nanomaterials to create new hybrid architectures to extend and optimize CNTs applications in these fields. Chitosan (CS), a natural biopolymer, has found wide applications in a variety of areas, including biomedicine and pharmaceutical, due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity, characteristic, and anti-infection activity. CS can be used as a modifier because it has abundant –NH 2 and –OH functional groups which can react with bioactive molecules In this work the use of multi-wall CNTs as nano-reserviors for drug loading and controlled release is demonstrated. We present the synthesis of different functionalized MWCNT for using as anti-HIV carrier: a) carboxyl functionalized, b) amide functionalized, c) chitosan grafted composites (CS-MWCNT) via covalent modification of MWCNT with CS, In order to evaluate the potential utilization of MWCNT nanohybrids as a drug carries the drug release with the Tenofovir (hydrophilic anti-retroviral drug) were investigated. Results and discusion: Surface functionalization has been widely used to prevent aggregation or agglomeration of raw CNTs, and changes in surface chemistry on CNTs may be important and relevant for health effects.f-CNT nanoparticles with Tenofovir drug were prepared and characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. TGA was applied to study the thermal stabilities, and SEM to investigate the morphology. The comparative drug loading and release properties of f- CNT were studied and the results showed that water- soluble Tenofovir could be effectively loaded in CNT nanoparticles with a high encapsulation efficiency, and the drug release could be effectively sustained, indicating that the CNT based nanoparticles are accounted as a promising polymer nano-carrier systems for controlled delivery of anti-HIV and water-soluble drugs. Materials and methods: Low molecular weight chitosan powder (deacetylation degree ≥ 90%) and MWCNT were supplied by Sigma-Aldrich Co., Ltd. Thionyl chloride (99.5%) was purchased from Acros Co., Ltd. TPP, Ethylenediamine, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and acetic acid were obtained from Merck Co. All other reagents were of analytical grade. a) carboxyl functionalized CNT: b) amide functionalized CNT; c) Chitosan grafted multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite (CS-MWCNT) via covalent modification of MWCNT with CS; HNO3+H2SO4 a SOCl2 + c EDA b Tenofovir was loaded into MWCNT nanoparticles.The Tenofovir-loading efficiency estimated was :CNT-COOH~ 88.9% , CNT-Amide ~77.97% , CNT-CS ~ 71.55% , CNT-CS NPs ~81.96% , In vitro release of Tenofovir from CS-CNT nanoparticles was evaluated using a dialysis bag diffusion method. REFERENCES: 1- J. Venkatesan, Z.-J.Qian, B. Ryu, N. Ashok Kumar, S. Kim, Carbohydrate Polymers, 2011. 83: p. 569–577. 2-] Y. Zu, Q. Zhao, X. Zhao, S. Zu, L. Meng, Int. J. Nanomed. 6 (2011) 3429. 3- S. Kumar Vashist, D. Zheng, G. Pastorin, Kh. Al-Rubeaan, J. H.T. Luong, F.SH.Sheu.Carbon, 2011. 49: p.4077-4097 SEM (a):CNT-CS NPs (b):f-CNT 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 cumulative drug release(%) Time(h) Tenofovir release CNT-CS np CNT-Amide CNT-CS CNT-COOH View publication stats View publication stats