ABSTRACT
Nanotechnology belongs to the most developing branch of science in the rst decade of the twenty-rst century. Nanomaterials are interesting because they have specic physicochemical properties and can be applied in many elds of science, electronics, optics, and medicine (Wang et al. 2009; Zhang, Nayak et al. 2012). The most used materials in medicine are quantum dots (Cai et al. 2007; Pollinger et al. 2014), paramagnetic nanoparticles (Thorek et al. 2006; Gong et al. 2009), liposomes (Burger et al. 2002; Lim et al. 2014), microspheres (Haase et al. 2013), polymeric shells (Maeda et al. 2001; Hirsch et al. 2006; Sciallero et al. 2013), and carbon nanotubes (Lacerda et al. 2006; Pumera 2009; Villegas et al. 2014). Some of the nanomaterials are applied as
transporters where cargo can be loaded by different kinds of mechanisms, such as encapsulation, surface absorption, and hydrogen bonding. Loading capacity can be improved by very strong π-stacking interactions as it was found in the binding of aromatic drug molecules to carbon nanotubes (Liu et al. 2007). A variety of carbon-based nanomaterials with potential of transporting properties are summarized in Figure 6.1.
