BACKGROUND:Although nerve conduits provide an effective treatment approach for nerve repair,traditional nerve conduits merely serve as mechanical channels in the repair process.The therapeutic effect still needs to be improved.Carbon nanomaterials have good physicochemical properties and hold great potential in fields such as electrochemistry and tissue engineering.Nerve conduits loaded with carbon nanomaterials,after appropriate functional modifications,are expected to further enhance the quality of nerve repair. OBJECTIVE:To review the recent research progress of carbon nanomaterial-loaded nerve conduits/scaffolds for peripheral nerve repair. METHODS:PubMed,Web of Science,China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),and Wanfang databases were searched for the literature on the application of carbon nanomaterial catheters in peripheral nerve regeneration.English keywords were"carbon nanomaterials,carbon-based nanomaterials,nerve conduit,nerve guidance conduit,scaffold,nerve regeneration,peripheral nerve repair,peripheral nerve injury"and Chinese keywords were"carbon nanomaterials,carbon materials,graphene,carbon nanotubes,nerve conduits,nerve scaffolds,nerve repair,nerve regeneration,peripheral nerve injury".Finally,69 articles were selected for this review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Carbon nanomaterials primarily restore damaged neural bioelectric signal conduction by activating calcium ion channels and inducing intracellular calcium activity.The application of various nerve conduit design strategies has improved the effectiveness of nerve repair.(2)Successful intraneural vascularization is the prerequisite for repairing peripheral nerve injuries.Reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species generated by carbon nanomaterials trigger subsequent signaling pathways that promote intraneural vascularization.(3)The ratio of M1 to M2 macrophages affects the repair of peripheral nerve injuries.Carbon nanomaterials promote the polarization of macrophages into the M2 phenotype,thereby exerting their anti-inflammatory and regenerative effects.(4)Some carbon nanomaterials may induce excessive generation of reactive oxygen species intracellularly,potentially exhibiting cytotoxicity detrimental to nerve repair.However,appropriate functional modifications can improve the adverse effects caused by carbon nanomaterials.(5)Although carbon nanomaterials can restore the microenvironment of peripheral nerve injuries and play a positive role in promoting peripheral nerve regeneration,their inherent cytotoxicity and unclear in vivo degradation pathways still pose challenges for clinical application.However,by employing methods such as functional modification,it is possible to enhance the biocompatibility of carbon nanomaterials.Modified carbon nanomaterials have promising prospects in the field of neural tissue engineering.