Center of Research Excellence in Nanotechnology, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100, Siena, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 25;11(1):6945. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-86426-5.
Carbon nanosheets are two-dimensional nanostructured materials that have applications as energy storage devices, electrochemical sensors, sample supports, filtration membranes, thanks to their high porosity and surface area. Here, for the first time, carbon nanosheets have been prepared from the stems and leaves of a nettle fibre clone, by using a cheap and straight-forward procedure that can be easily scaled up. The nanomaterial shows interesting physical parameters, namely interconnectivity of pores, graphitization, surface area and pore width. These characteristics are similar to those described for the nanomaterials obtained from other fibre crops. However, the advantage of nettle over other plants is its fast growth and easy propagation of homogeneous material using stem cuttings. This last aspect guarantees homogeneity of the starting raw material, a feature that is sought-after to get a nanomaterial with homogeneous and reproducible properties. To evaluate the potential toxic effects if released in the environment, an assessment of the impact on plant reproduction performance and microalgal growth has been carried out by using tobacco pollen cells and the green microalga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata. No inhibitory effects on pollen germination are recorded, while algal growth inhibition is observed at higher concentrations of leaf carbon nanosheets with lower graphitization degree.
碳纳米片是二维纳米结构材料，由于其高孔隙率和比表面积，可应用于储能装置、电化学传感器、样品支撑、过滤膜等领域。在这里，首次通过一种廉价且直接的方法，从荨麻纤维克隆的茎和叶中制备了碳纳米片，该方法易于放大。该纳米材料具有有趣的物理参数，即孔隙的连通性、石墨化、表面积和孔径。这些特性与从其他纤维作物获得的纳米材料所描述的特性相似。然而，荨麻相对于其他植物的优势在于其生长迅速，并且可以使用茎段轻松繁殖均匀的材料。这最后一个方面保证了起始原料的均匀性，这是获得具有均匀和可重复性能的纳米材料所需要的。为了评估如果在环境中释放可能产生的潜在毒性影响，通过使用烟草花粉细胞和绿藻 Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata 评估了对植物繁殖性能和微藻生长的影响。未记录到花粉萌发的抑制作用，而在较高浓度的具有较低石墨化程度的叶状碳纳米片存在时，观察到藻类生长抑制。
