˙OH Hydroxyl

μs Microseconds

CD Carbon dots CNH Carbon nanohorns CNM Carbon nanomaterials CNO Carbon nano-onions CNT Carbon nanotubes CPT Camptothecin CS Chitosan DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid DOX Doxorubicin GO Graphene oxide GQDs Graphene quantum dots HA Hyaluronic acid HCoV-229E7 Human coronavirus HIV-1 Immunodeficiency virus MRSA Methicillin-resistant S. aureus MWCNT Multi-walled carbon nanotubes ND Nanodiamonds NIR Near-infrared ns Nanoseconds PDT Photodynamic therapy PL Photoluminescence PLLA Poly-L-lactic acid PTT Photothermal therapy rGO Reduced graphene oxide RNA Ribonucleic acid ROS Reactive oxygen species S42 Schwann cells SWCNH/SWNHs Single-walled carbon nanohorns

the ability to combine with other chemical elements, its biocompatibility, its photo­luminescent capacity, high resistance, and electrical conductivity [1, 2]. They are undoubtedly materials with various applications in the medical area for the diag­nosis and treatment of diseases, through their use for the marking of tumor cells or for their use in the arrest of target molecules and creation of biosensors, as well as the destruction of the same by photodynamic or photothermal therapy, as well as to be used as drug vehicles to treat various pathologies of various kinds, including infec­tious diseases due to their antimicrobial and antiviral capacity, in addition to being used as a scaffolding structure for the development and proliferation of cells and tissues, its use covers the agricultural industry for the development of biofertilizers, as well as the environmental industry to determine contaminating biosensors and the remediation of contaminated soils or waters [2, 3]. This describes the character­istics and general properties of carbon-based nanomaterials and some applications, highlighting their use in health.

Among these dimensional nanostructures, we can find some carbonaceous graphitic nanoparticles (NPs), such as carbon-based (CQD) and graphene-based (GQD) quantum dots (Fig. 1), which have potential applications in the development of new electronic devices. This carbon nanostructure has gained attention, and because of that, it is considered an alternative material for developing new semiconductors due to its enhanced properties. Due to this, researchers have been inspired to employ them in many things, such as bioimaging, optoelectronic, catalytic, and energy storage applications [4].

One of the principal characteristics of one-dimensional (1D) carbon nanostructures is that they can be used in different fields, which has led researchers to work in various applications. The primary study nanomaterials are carbon nanotubes (CNT), used as the central precursor materials for graphite sheets; the main structure formed by this precursor is cylindrical. However, some carbon allotropes can present a high length­to-diameter ratio. Usually, CNTs are tubular; the main property of this nanostructure is that their carbon atoms can present a hexagonal arrangement in a sheet. CNTs present some attractive characteristics, such as enhanced mechanical properties that allow these nanomaterials to develop new construction constituents. Also, CNTs have recently gained particular attention in developing new electronic device fields because of their unique electronic properties. CNTs have a high Young’s modulus, and it has been proved that the rigid molecules that compound these materials are more resistant than steel; also, CNTs are good conductors of heat and electricity. Finally, CNTs have been used to construct new sensors with real potential in nano­electromechanical systems (NEMS). The structures of these materials provide new functionality or enhance the performance of the newly developed devices [5]. The synthesis of 1D carbon nanostructures includes nanotubes, nanofibers, and nanowires (Fig. 2).

Recently, graphene has been increasingly used to synthesize new nanomaterials, and it is highly abundant, has the characteristic of building block of natural graphite, and is also a good electricity conductor. This new material has excellent conductive, optical properties like carbon nanotubes. It also has some other specific characteristics; the main structure is a 2D atomic sheet-like structure, which allows graphene to

empower various electronic devices via the quantum Hall effect and massless Dirac fermions. Graphene nanomaterials present some other exceptional characteristics like a high surface area, which is the result of an ultra-thin or small formed material, brilliant electrical conductivity, and enhanced mechanical flexibility, among others; graphene can also be used in the synthesis of new nanocomposites with that can be used in many electrochemical applications. Due to the atomically thin structure and consequent quantum confinement effect, 2D nanomaterials have remarkable physical and chemical properties [1, 5]. The structure of graphene is represented in Fig. 3.