Dendrimers and nanotubes: a fruitful association

Dendrimers and nanotubes (particularly carbon nanotubes (CNTs)) are two types of nano-objects which have met independently a large success within the scientific community. Surprisingly, their association has been poorly studied up to now, despite some original properties recently reported and that will be emphasized in this tutorial review. One can name as a few, the elaboration of single-walled carbon nanotubes from dendrimers, CNTs functionalised with dendrimers displaying field effect transistor properties and/or used as biosensors, and modified biological properties (either enhanced biocompatibility or enhanced antimicrobial activity). However, not all the nanotubes are carbon nanotubes, and original properties were also reported for dendrimers associated with non-CNTs, such as the elaboration of specific nano-filters and of highly efficient and reusable catalysts. Furthermore, non-CNTs constituted of dendrimers, particularly those obtained by layer-by-layer deposition of positively and negatively charged dendrimers associated with quantum dots display an excellent detection limit for DNA hybridization (10 fM).