Tag Archives: Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives

Carbon nanotubes: OCSiAl’s deal in Korea and their effect on the body after one year

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I have two news items related only by their focus on carbon nanotubes. First, there’s a July 3, 2014 news item on Azonano featuring OCSiAl’s deal with a Korean company announced at NANO KOREA 2014,

At NANO KOREA 2014 OCSiAl announced an unprecedentedly large-scale deal with Korean company Applied Carbon Nano Technology [ACN] Co., Ltd. – one of the key industry players.

OCSiAl, the dominating graphene tubes manufacturer, that successfully presented its products and technology in Europe and USA, now to enter Asian nanotech markets. At NANO KOREA 2014 the company introduced TUBALL, the universal nanomodifier of materials featuring >75% of single wall carbon nanotubes, and announced signing of supply agreement with Applied Carbon Nano Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ACN), a recognized future-oriented innovative company.

A July 3, 2014 OCSiAl news release, which originated the news item, describes the memorandum of understanding (MOU) in greater detail,

Under this MoU ACN would buy 100 kg of TUBALL. The upcoming deal is the first of OCSiAl’s Korean contracts to be performed in 2015 and it turns up the largest throughout SWCNT market, which annual turnover recently hardly reached 500 kg. The agreement is exceptionally significant as it opens fundamental opportunities for manufacturing of new nanomaterial-based product with the unique properties that were not even possible before.

“OCSiAl’s entry to Korean market required thorough preparation. We invested time and efforts to prove that our company, our technology and our products worth credibility, – says Viktor Kim, OCSiAl Vice President, – we urged major playmakers to take TUBALL for testing to verify the quality and effectiveness. We believe that ACN is more than an appropriate partner to start – they are experts at the market and they understand its future perspectives very clearly. We believe that mutually beneficial partnership with ACN will path the way for future contracts, since it will become indicative to other companies in Asia and all over the world”.

“It comes as no surprise that OCSiAl’s products here in Korea will be in a great demand soon. The country strives to become world’s leader in advanced technology, and we do realize the benefits of nanomaterial’s exploitation. TUBALL is a truly versatile additive which may be used across many market sectors, where adoption of new materials with top-class performance is essential”, – says Mr. Dae-Yeol Lee, CEO of ACN.

OCSiAl’s entering to Korean market will undoubtedly have a high-reaching impact on the industry. The recent merger with American Zyvex Technologies made OCSiAl the not only the world’s largest nanomaterial producer but a first-rate developer of modifiers of different materials based on carbon nanotubes. To its Korean partners OCSiAl offers TUBALL, the raw ‘as produced’ SWCNT material and masterbatches, which can be either custom-made or ready-to-use mixtures for different applications, including li-ion batteries, car tires, transparent conductive coatings and many others. “Since Korea is increasingly dynamic, our success here will build on continuous development of our product, – adds Viktor Kim, – And we are constantly working on new applications of graphene tubes to meet sophisticated demands of nanotech-savvy Korean consumers”.

OCSiAl’s Zyvex acquisition was mentioned in a June 23, 2014 posting here.

My second tidbit concerns a July 4, 2014 news item on Nanowerk about carbon nanotubes and their effect on the body (Note: A link has been removed),

Having perfected an isotope labeling method allowing extremely sensitive detection of carbon nanotubes in living organisms, CEA and CNRS researchers have looked at what happens to nanotubes after one year inside an animal. Studies in mice revealed that a very small percentage (0.75%) of the initial quantity of nanotubes inhaled crossed the pulmonary epithelial barrier and translocated to the liver, spleen, and bone marrow. Although these results cannot be extrapolated to humans, this work highlights the importance of developing ultrasensitive methods for assessing the behavior of nanoparticles in animals. It has been published in the journal ACS Nano (“Carbon Nanotube Translocation to Distant Organs after Pulmonary Exposure: Insights from in Situ 14C-Radiolabeling and Tissue Radioimaging”).

A July 1, 2014 CNRS [France Centre national de la recherche scientifique] press release, which originated the news item, describes both applications for carbon nanotubes and the experiment in greater detail,

Carbon nanotubes are highly specific nanoparticles with outstanding mechanical and electronic properties that make them suitable for use in a wide range of applications, from structural materials to certain electronic components. Their many present and future uses explain why research teams around the world are now focusing on their impact on human health and the environment.

Researchers from CEA and the CNRS joined forces to study the distribution over time of these nanoparticles in mice, following contamination by inhalation. They combined radiolabeling with radio imaging tools for optimum detection sensitivity. When making the carbon nanotubes, stable carbon (12C) atoms were replaced directly by radioactive carbon (14C) atoms in the very structure of the tubes. This method allows the use of carbon nanotubes similar to those produced in industry, but labeled with 14C. Radio imaging tools make it possible to detect up to twenty or so carbon nanotubes on an animal tissue sample.

A single dose of 20 µg [micrograms] of labeled nanotubes was administered at the start of the protocol, then monitored for one year. The carbon nanotubes were observed to translocate from the lungs to other organs, especially the liver, spleen, and bone marrow. The study demonstrates that these nanoparticles are capable of crossing the pulmonary epithelial barrier, or air-blood barrier. It was also observed that the quantity of carbon nanotubes in these organs rose steadily over time, thus demonstrating that these particles are not eliminated on this timescale. Further studies will have to determine whether this observation remains true beyond a year.

The CEA [French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission {Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives}] and CNRS teams have developed highly specific skills that enable them to study the health and environmental impact of nanoparticles from various angles. Nanotoxicology and nanoecotoxicology research such as this is both a priority for society and a scientific challenge, involving experimental approaches and still emerging concepts.

This work is conducted as part of CEA’s interdisciplinary Toxicology and Nanosciences programs. These are management, coordination and support structures set up to promote multidisciplinary approaches for studying the potential impact on living organisms of various components of industrial interest, including heavy metals, radionuclides, and new products.

At the CNRS, these concerns are reflected in particular in major initiatives such as the International Consortium for the Environmental Implications of Nano Technology (i-CEINT), a CNRS-led international initiative focusing on the ecotoxicology of nanoparticles. CNRS teams also have a long tradition of close involvement in matters relating to standards and regulations. Examples of this include the ANR NanoNORMA program, led by the CNRS, or ongoing work within the French C’Nano network.

For those who would either prefer or like to check out  the French language version of the July 1, 2014 CNRS press release (La biodistribution des nanotubes de carbone dans l’organisme), it can be found here.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Carbon Nanotube Translocation to Distant Organs after Pulmonary Exposure: Insights from in Situ 14C-Radiolabeling and Tissue Radioimaging by Bertrand Czarny, Dominique Georgin, Fannely Berthon, Gael Plastow, Mathieu Pinault, Gilles Patriarche, Aurélie Thuleau, Martine Mayne L’Hermite, Frédéric Taran, and Vincent Dive. ACS Nano, 2014, 8 (6), pp 5715–5724 DOI: 10.1021/nn500475u Publication Date (Web): May 22, 2014

Copyright © 2014 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.

Carbon and neural implants

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I’ve been meaning to do more about brains and implantable devices for a while so this Mar. 2, 2012 news item on Nanowerk comes at a timely moment,

The blind see, the lame walk, and the deaf hear: in the future, neural implants could replace destroyed sensory cells in the eye or ear – a dream come true for humanity. One of the greatest challenges yet to be addressed is designing the interface between medical technology and human tissue. In order to overcome the limitations of existing models, scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and eleven other institutions involved in the NeuroCare project, which kicked off on 1 March 2012, will develop novel biointerfaces made of carbon.

After reading some of Dr. Gregor Wolbring’s materials (last mentioned in my Aug. 30, 2011 posting on ‘ableism’) I’m not so sure about this business of making the ‘blind see’, etc. For example, there’s been  a lot of discussion in the deaf community about cochlear implants and whether or not there should be an automatic assumption that to be ‘normal’, one must hear. Wolbring’s latest writing on these topics is here in a Feb. 23, 2012 posting on the Nordic Network on Disability Research blog. Excerpted from the posting,

I coined a couple of years ago the term Ability Studies (Wolbring, 2008) which I defined, among others, to investigate: (a) the social, cultural, legal, political, ethical and other considerations by which any given ability may be judged, and which may lead to favouring one ability over another; (b) the impact and consequence of favouring certain abilities and rejecting others; (c) the consequences of ableism in its different forms, and its relationship with and impact on other isms [racism, ageism, sexism, etc.].

I think Wolbring asks some very provocative questions in light of the enthusiasm so often expressed in descriptions of greater therapeutic interventions. From the news item,

For several years, biomedical researchers have been working on implants to compensate for damage to the nervous system caused by an accident or illness. They focus on tools that correct problems with basic cognitive abilities, such as a loss or impairment of eyesight or the ability to hear. In addition, they may also be used to treat traumatic injuries to the spine, drug-resistant epilepsies, psychiatric disorders, and chronic neurodegenerative diseases.

However, the technology is still in its infancy. What makes it so difficult to implement is primarily connecting living tissue and electric circuits, with flexible cell structures containing water on one side and rigid solid electrodes on the other side. NeuroCare therefore uses materials based on carbon as they are better suited to medical purposes than the metals or silicon conventionally used.

…

In order to optimize the contact to biological tissue, the researchers are planning to experiment with flexible materials and test different surface structures on the nanometre scale. Within the next three years, the project coordinated by the French Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) will produce prototypes of retinal, cortical and cochlear implants, which will then be refined until they can be brought to the market in the following ten years.

The NeuroCare (Neuronal NanoCarbon Interfacing Structures) project is described in a more technical fashion on the Cordis website where contact information for various partners in the project is also offered.