Advanced nanomaterials such as carbon nano-tubes (CNTs) display unprecedented properties such as strength, electrical conductance, thermal stability, and intriguing optical properties. These properties of CNT allow construction of small microfluidic devices leading to miniaturization of analyses previously conducted on a laboratory bench. With dimensions of only millimeters to a few square centimeters, these devices are called lab-on-a-chip (LOC). A LOC device requires a multidisciplinary contribution from different fields and offers automation, portability, and high-throughput screening along with a significant reduction in reagent consumption. Today, CNT can play a vital role in many parts of a LOC such as membrane channels, sensors and channel walls. This review paper provides an overview of recent trends in the use of CNT in LOC devices and covers challenges and recent advances in the field. CNTs are also reviewed in terms of synthesis, integration techniques, functionalization and superhydrophobicity. In addition, the toxicity of these nanomaterials is reviewed as a major challenge and recent approaches addressing this issue are discussed.

中文翻译：

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微流控芯片实验室技术中的碳纳米管：当前趋势和未来前景。

碳纳米管（CNT）等先进的纳米材料显示出前所未有的特性，例如强度，电导率，热稳定性和吸引人的光学特性。CNT的这些特性允许构建小型微流控设备，从而使以前在实验室工作台上进行的分析小型化。这些设备的尺寸只有几毫米到几平方厘米，被称为芯片实验室（LOC）。LOC设备需要来自不同领域的多学科贡献，并提供自动化，便携性和高通量筛选，并显着减少试剂消耗。今天，CNT可以在LOC的许多部分中发挥至关重要的作用，例如膜通道，传感器和通道壁。这篇综述文章概述了LOC器件中CNT使用的最新趋势，并介绍了该领域的挑战和最新进展。CNT也从合成，整合技术，功能化和超疏水性方面进行了综述。另外，将这些纳米材料的毒性作为主要挑战进行了综述，并讨论了解决该问题的最新方法。