Carbon and Graphene Quantum Dots as Bionanomaterials: A Perspective View of COVID–19

Abstract

The rapid outbreak of the deadly and contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2019 that caused COVID-19 disease has demanded the development of novel antiviral materials. Since medical treatment and drug evaluation and approval by health authorities takes a longer time, nanomaterials can play a significant role in combating deadly disease. Carbon-based materials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, fullerene, and carbon quantum dots (CQDs), have been widely reported in the literature as contributing to fighting the viral disease. Among them, CQDs have received significant attention as bionanomaterials recently, particularly in the biomedical field to treat various viral infections. Therefore, this mini-review discusses the recent achievements of CQDs and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as bionanomaterials in fighting viral disease, specifically COVID-19 and other COVID-19-related works such as sensing and treatment, as well as virus inhibition.