Dr. Jianjun Wei (Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering) received new funding from North Carolina Central University for the project “Carbon nanodots for anti oxidative and radical scavenging reactions.” This project is supported by funds from the National Science Foundation as part of the NSF Excellence in Research grant.
According to the abstract, carbon nanodots are a type of newly engineered non/low-toxic nanomaterials. They have scavenging potential of free radicals, which are highly unstable and reactive molecules in biological systems and other environments. Because free radicals are associated with inflammation, they can lead to potentially serious pathological conditions. This project aims to examine the reaction mechanisms of carbon nanodots in radical scavenging activities towards using these nanomaterials in biological and environmental applications. This project will enhance the understanding of the surface chemistry of carbon nanodots and the roles of the surrounding conditions on carbon nanodots interfacial reactions with a variety of free radicals, and how the carbon nanodots’ free radical scavenging potential is influenced by surrounding biological and biochemical conditions.
