Many congratulations to Andreia D. Veloso for successfully defending her PhD thesis in Chemical and Biological Sciences (UTAD) with the title “Development of hydrophilic carbon nanomaterials with biomimetic properties of antioxidant enzymes” (22th November, Vila Real). Andreia’s PhD thesis was developed under the supervision of Prof. Maria C.Oliveira (UTAD/CQ-VR), and the co-supervision of Romeu A. Videira (FCUP/LAQV) and Nuno Cerqueira (BioSIM-FMUP), with the computational studies developed at BioSIM.
The study employed electrochemically generated water-soluble nanomaterials using a graphite anode under galvanostatic polarization. By modifying the chemical composition of the electrolyte used in synthesis, it as possible to modulate the oxidation-reduction properties of the HCNs. Key findings included
- The electrolyte used in synthesis significantly impacted the structural, morphological, and chemical characteristics of the nanomaterials.
- Two distinct classes of materials were identified:
a) Oxidized nanomaterials with redox potential similar to native SOD enzyme catalytic centers.
b) Reduced nanomaterials capable of promoting O2•− and H2O2 reduction.
The research demonstrated that oxidizing nanomaterials (HCN@phosphate) exhibit SOD-like activity that increases with ionic strength. Conversely, nanomaterials with higher reducing activity (HCN@citric and HCN@tartaric) showed excellent ability to mimic non-enzymatic antioxidants.This work paves the way for potential therapeutic applications, as certain nanomaterials showed no cytotoxicity in human neuronal cells and keratinocytes. The study provides valuable insights into the development of novel antioxidant materials with promising applications in medicine and biotechnology.