Future prospectives of nano onions: a review

Carbon onions represent one of the least studied carbon nano-materials, and are seeing a large
increase in attention for energy storage applications. Because of their unique 0-D structure, small
(<10 nm) diameter, high electrical conductivity, and relatively easy dispersion, compared to 1-D
nano onions and 2-D graphene, OLC has been shown to be ideal as a conductive additive to battery
and super-capacitor electrodes, or as active material for super-capacitor electrodes for high-power
applications and for low temperature devices using ionic liquid electrolytes. This review reveals
many spectacular benefits of carbon nano onions during their recent applications in different areas of
pharmacy and medicine. The discovery of this bio nanotechnology has opened new alternatives more
effective than the ancient drug delivery methods since CNOs can pass through cell membranes,
carrying drugs, genes, bio-molecules, vaccines, and so forth deep into the target cells or organs
previously unreachable. Another novel approach is the use of collagen CNOs materials as scaffolds
in tissue generation and artificial implants because CNOs resist biodegradation and are a powerful
engineering candidate over other existing materials used to repair defective organs. Besides, CNOs
combined with biosensors or other materials have proven excellent implements for the therapeutic
monitoring and the diagnosis of diseases as well as for the analysis of drugs in different areas.
Overall, this nanotechnology could revolutionize the therapeutic concepts in the future and give a
glimmer of hope for the treatment of many incurable diseases. However, despite many of the
surprising results of CNOs obtained during the beginning of this research field, there are still
tremendous opportunities to be explored and significant challenges and risks to be solved.