Evolving Nanocarbon Strategies in (bio-) Organic Remits

The ENSOR project (Evolving Nanocarbon Strategies in (bio-) Organic Remits) involves the exchange of key staff between the EU (United Kingdom and Hungary), Russia and Japan with a principal aim to focus on the controlled production and chemical modification of a variety of novel nanocarbons for specific end applications reaching into the bio-organic field. It is recognised that the development of novel carbon based materials will have unique properties that will be beneficial in other research and development fields, e.g. next generation of ultracapacitors, advanced organic decomposition catalysts, effective sorption materials for health and environment protection, superior mechanical reinforcement additives.

This project supports the exchange of key researchers and staff operating at the cutting edge of their academic field providing synergistic collaborative developments of the source material through to the final composites and applications. Furthermore, the project provides training and education through collating the best techniques available within each country to provide international excellence, facilitating transfer of knowledge and know how between the participating parties, being of mutual interest, fostering long term collaborative format well beyond the scope of the project.

The project involves five teams from the University of Brighton (UK), Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Hungary), Institute of Hydrocarbons Processing of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia), Kazan State University (Russia) and Toyo University (Japan).

The main project aim is to develop novel production process for controlling the formation of carbon nanofibres, nanotubes, nanoglobules, nanospirals and nanofilms with controlled geometries and enhanced properties through doping with heteroatoms. The properties of novel carbon based materials have been optimised for the advanced biomedical and healthcare application, as well as application in the environmental area and others.

The project is also aiming to build new collaboration and strengthen existing links with the research groups in UK, Hungary, Russia and Japan, and facilitate the transfer of knowledge involving new (original) expertise of one of the partner that the others will benefit.

The main results achieved within the four years of the ENSOR project primarily have focused on the production of carbon material, composites and hybrids, and their use in adsorption processes, bioanalytical technique and biomedical applications. During the project we developed a range of the carbon based materials: nanofibres, nanoglobules, nanospirals and nanofilms with controlled geometries and/or enhanced properties through doping with heteroatoms, plus carbon with controlled porosity, including chemical modification to specifically tune their physicochemical properties. Novel production of single-layer and multi-layer graphene material has been achieved through the thermal transformation of expanding copolymer. Some aspects of cytocompatibility of graphene oxide particles and their interaction with mammalian cell plasma membrane have been examined. The project partners tailored the structural parameters, geometry and physicochemical properties of nanocarbons for the potential development of biosensors, rapid bacteria screening in liquid media, DNA therapeutics and hemoperfusion adsorption. These advanced materials have potential for developing new technologies, e.g. next generation of ultracapacitors, advanced organic decomposition catalysts, effective sorption materials for health and environment protection, superior mechanical reinforcement additives.

The ENSOR project brought together scientific communities of Eastern and Western Europe, Russia and Japan. It attracted experts and leading researchers from within and outside the EU, bringing additional knowledge and access to unique methodologies and technologies. An increased mobility of researchers, particularly young researchers, created excellent career opportunities for large number of individuals involved. The project supported the creation of a network of national research centres of excellence and strong collaboration between the partners was established, which makes the EC more competitive at the global scale and may ultimately contribute to its economic growth.

The following publications resulted from the ENSOR project:

Raymond L.D. Whitby, Alina V. Korobeinyk, Vladimir M. Gun’ko, Daniel B. Wright, Gennaro Dichello, Lauren C. Smith, Takahiro Fukuda, Toru Maekawa, Julian R. Thorpe, Sergey V. Mikhalovsky, "Single Layer Graphenes Functionalized With Polyurea: Architectural Control and Biomolecule Reactivity", Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 117, 11829-11836 (2013)

A. Fagan-Murphy, R.L.D. Whitby, B.A. Patel, "Buckycolumn electrodes: a practical and improved alternative to conventional materials utilised for biological electrochemical monitoring", Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 1, 4359-4363 (2013).

Dániel Ábrahám, Balázs Nagy, Gábor Dobos, János Madarász, György Onyestyák, Mikhail V. Trenikhin, Krisztina László: Hydroconversion of acetic acid over carbon aerogel supported molybdenum catalyst. Microporous Mesoporous Materials, 190, 46-53 (2014)

R.L.D. Whitby, L.C. Smith, G. Dichello, T. Fukuda, T. Maekawa and S.V. Mikhalovsky, Cationic ring-opening polymerization of lactones onto chemically modified single layer graphene oxide, Mater. Express 4, 242-246 (2014). DOI: 10.1166/mex.2014.1165

Dániel Ábrahám, Balázs Nagy, Gábor Dobos, János Madarász, György Onyestyák, Mikhail V. Trenikhin, Krisztina László: Hydroconversion of acetic acid over carbon aerogel supported molybdenum catalyst. Microporous Mesoporous Materials, 190, 46-53 (2014)

O.V. Bondar, V.D. Shevchenko, A.D. Martynova, D.V. Salakhieva, I.N. Savina, Yu.G. Shtyrlin, T.I. Abdullin. Intracellular delivery of VEGF165 encoding gene therapeutic using trifunctional copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide // European Polymer Journal. 2015 (in press, on-line available).

Yu.G. Kryazhev, V.S. Solodovnichenko, I.V. Anikeeva, Z.R. Ismagilov, O.U. Pod’yacheva, R.I. Kvon, V.A. Drozdov, V.A. Likholobov. Synthesis of nanostructured hybrid nitrogen and metal containing carbon materials. // Solid fuel chemistry. 2015, 49, 1-6.

Lipid-like trifunctional block copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide: Effective and cytocompatible modulators of intracellular drug delivery
Bondar, Oksana V.; Badeev, Yuriy V.; Shtyrlin, Yurii G.; Abdullin, Timur I.
Elsevier Science BV 2014
doi:10.1016/j.ijpharm.2013.11.002

Competitive adsorption of phenol and 3-chlorophenol on purified MWCNTs
Toth, Ajna; Toerocsik, Andrea; Tombacz, Etelka; Laszlo, Krisztina
Academic Press including Elsevier Science 2012
doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2012.07.064

Host-Guest Interactions in Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogels
Laszlo, Krisztina; Manek, Eniko; Vavra, Szilvia; Geissler, Erik; Domjan, Attila
Chemical Society Japan 2012
doi:10.1246/cl.2012.1055

Buckycolumn electrodes: a practical and improved alternative to conventional materials utilised for biological electrochemical monitoring
Fagan-Murphy, Aidan; Whitby, Raymond L D; Patel, Bhavik Anil
Royal Society Chemistry 2013
doi:10.1039/c3tb20802h

Assessment of metabolic activity of human cells in solution and in polymer matrix with the use of metabolite-sensitive sensors
Saifullina, Diana V.; Shakhmaeva, Irina I.; Abdullin, Timur I.
Elsevier Science BV 2012
doi:10.1016/j.msec.2012.05.001

Electrochemical sensor for blood deoxyribonucleases: design and application to the diagnosis of autoimmune thyroiditis
Shakhmaeva, Irina I.; Saifullina, Diana V.; Sattarova, Liliya I.; Abdullin, Timur I.
Springer Heidelberg 2011
doi:10.1007/s00216-011-5335-2

The role of interfacial chemistry and interactions in the dynamics of thermosetting polyurethane-multiwalled carbon nanotube composites at low filler contents
Karabanova, Lyudmyla V.; Whitby, Raymond L D; Bershtein, Vladimir A.; Korobeinyk, Alina V.; Yakushev, Pavel N.; Bondaruk, Oksana M.; Lloyd, Andrew W.; Mikhalovsky, Sergey V.
Springer 2013
doi:10.1007/s00396-012-2745-4