Carbon (roots from Latin word carbo; coal), most primitive element ever known to mankind, is also the most abundant element on earth and is known as the “ele­ment of life”. Its unique properties keep on fascinating us, which allows it to form numerous allotropic forms via sp, sp structural characterization of graphite by John D. Bernal in the Twentieth Century, carbon became the focus of an extensive line of research. The detailed study related to carbon and its properties, “carbon chemistry” formed the backbone of organic chemistry. With due course of time, the motivation of miniaturizing devices gave birth to an extremely robust class of nanomaterials known as “Carbon-Based Nano­materials”. The history of nanotechnology and carbon-based nanomaterials is highly intertwined. Following the invention of electron microscope and introduction of the term “nanotechnology”, the miraculous discovery of fullerenes or “Bucky ball” in 1985 laid the first stepping stone in the history of nanomaterials. It became the first structurally investigated nanomaterial to be reported and it is the biggest milestone in the journey of nanotechnology. Science then, several forms of nano-dimensional carbonaceous matters have been discovered and reported which have revolution­ized the field of material science. In the past decades, the remarkable mechanical, electrical, and optical properties of carbon-based nanomaterials havemade them the center of attraction for academicians and industrialists for their applicability in a plethora of applications ranging from aeronautics to biomedical science. These tiny miracles have proved to be a boon in the field of therapeutics. Sustained encapsula­tion and release of optimized dosages of therapeutics in their hollow cavities make them the most promising candidates for drug delivery applications. Various forms of carbonaceous nanomaterials like fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, nanodiamonds, graphene, carbon quantum dots, nanohorns, and nano-onions have found the way toward success in the field of drug delivery. The book mainly focuses ontheeffectivenessofdifferentnanomaterials toward targeteddeliveryof therapeutic compounds to different parts of the body.

With heartfelt appreciation, I extend my sincere gratitude to the Springer Nature, Singapore Pte. Ltd. for publishing this book entitled Carbon Based Nanomaterials for Drug Delivery. With due regards, I express my thanks and respect to the eminent Series Editor, Prof. Mohammad Jawaid and Dr. Ramesh Nath Premnath, Publishing Editor of Springer for their invaluable opportunity to present my ideas through this bookas part of thebook series Smart Nanomaterials Technology.Specialappreciation goes to Dr. Karthik Raj, Project Coordinator, for his unwavering support during the editing process.