Novel Functional Nanoscaled Bio-Active Composite Tungsten Disulfide (WS2) Nanotubes (f-WS2-INTs) �???? Innovative Surface Chemical Engineering of Starting Highly Hydrophobic Tungsten Disulfide Nanotubes (WS2-INTs)

Tungsten disulfide nanotubes (INTs-WS2) are extremely hydrophobic and chemically inert inorganic nanomaterials. Thusthis inorganic nanomaterial usefulness is strongly limited in numerous mechanical hardness and tribology-relating research developments together with subsequent industrial/bio-active end using-applications. Indeed, the covalent versatile linkage of any kind of functional organic and/or biology-relating species remains a quite critical developmental step towards highly innovative high-performance nanomaterials and multiphase composites in the field of essential interfacial versatile chemistries. This covalent functionalization method makes use of highly electrophilic and reactive imminium salts (Vilsmeier-Haack (VH) complexes-electrophilic reactions) in order to enable the covalent introduction of a chemically versatile polyacidic (polyCOOH) shell onto the surface of VH-treated inorganic nanomaterials. Moreover, a significant statistical Design Of Experiments (DoE) multi-parameters methodology has been also developed for highly reproducible global DoE-optimization of this multi-parametric polyCOOH shell generation. Resulting fully characterized functional INTs-WS2 (f-INTsWS2) have a quite wide potential for use as novel functional nanoscale fillers toward new mechanically strengthened and/ or conductive composite polymeric matrices (case of hybrid polythiophene-decorated f-INTs-WS2 nanocomposites).3 Corresponding novel functional nanomaterials/nanoscale fillers have been also shown to be PTT bioactive and non-toxic in preliminary toxicity studies,4 which opens a wide R&D route/ progress for relating end-user applications (cellular toxic CNTs nanofillers replacement for example).