Absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of carbon nanostructures

The interaction of any substance with the body is determined by several parameters, namely: its adsorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME properties). Naturally, this also fully applies to such a class of compounds as carbon nanostructures. They are mostly composed of sp2-hybridized carbon atoms (except for nanodiamonds, which consist of sp3-hybridized atoms). However, they differ significantly in their properties. This review focuses on these differences. It covers fullerenes, nano-onions, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanohorns, graphene and its derivatives, as well as nanodiamonds.