Carbon nanomaterials and its applications in pharmaceuticals: A brief review

Nanotechnology for the past decade has made tremendous improvement and diverse applications in various sector. Among the nanomaterials synthesized, carbon allotropes are advantageous due to its easy functionalization, conductivity, surface area and electrical activity. Hence, they are termed as "Wonder materials". Allotropes such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, graphene oxide, fullerens, and carbon dots has paved its importance in the pharmaceuticals. They are coated in the biomedical devices, applied in the therapeutics and diagnosis. These are also used in the treatment of cancer and they possess anti-microbial and antiviral activity. Carbon nanomaterials possess several applications from biosensors to remediation of pollutants. Detection of hazardous compounds in food, pharmaceutical products, gene and drug delivery. They are also used in tissue regeneration and gene therapy. Application of carbon allotropes in the current scenario provides a wide scope in future with improvisations in building electrochemical biosensors. Its selectivity, sensitivity and cost-effectiveness prove it to be better alternative compared to other nanomaterials. The review focuses on the carbon allotropes used in pharmaceuticals, biosensors, pollutants detection and treatment were discussed in detail.