title: Vortex-aligned fullerene nanowhiskers as a scaffold for orienting cell growth.
abstract: A versatile method for the rapid fabrication of aligned fullerene C60 nanowhiskers (C60NWs) at the air-water interface is presented. This method is based on the vortex motion of a subphase (water), which directs floating C60NWs to align on the water surface according to the direction of rotational flow. Aligned C60NWs could be transferred onto many different flat substrates, and, in this case, aligned C60NWs on glass substrates were employed as a scaffold for cell culture. Bone forming human osteoblast MG63 cells adhered well to the C60NWs, and their growth was found to be oriented with the axis of the aligned C60NWs. Cells grown on aligned C60NWs were more highly oriented with the axis of alignment than when grown on randomly oriented nanowhiskers. A study of cell proliferation on the C60NWs revealed their low toxicity, indicating their potential for use in biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: †Supermolecules Group, WPI Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Venkata
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krishnan
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, Chiba 278-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kasuya
authors.affiliation: †Supermolecules Group, WPI Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Qingmin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: †Supermolecules Group, WPI Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Marappan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sathish
authors.affiliation: †Supermolecules Group, WPI Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Lok Kumar
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.affiliation: §Functional Geomaterials Group, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.affiliation: †Supermolecules Group, WPI Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.affiliation: ∥Nanotechnology Innovation Station, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.affiliation: ∥Nanotechnology Innovation Station, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.affiliation: ∥Nanotechnology Innovation Station, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobutaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hanagata
authors.affiliation: ⊥Fullerene Engineering Group, Exploratory Nanotechnology Research Laboratory, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Kun'ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
authors.affiliation: #Centre for Advanced Materials (CAM), Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Jadavpur, Kolkata 700 032, India.
authors.forename: Somobrata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Acharya
authors.affiliation: †Supermolecules Group, WPI Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Waka
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.affiliation: †Supermolecules Group, WPI Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: †Supermolecules Group, WPI Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ariga
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology*; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D037741:Fullerenes; D011108:Polymers; C069837:fullerene C60
keywords: air−water interface; alignment of nanostructures; cell culture; fullerene C60 nanowhiskers; vortex-flow-directed assembly