2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
Depositing Graphene Oxide Composite Films Onto Cotton Substrates for a Topical Controlled Release Drug Delivery System
Our group aims to leverage Graphene Oxide (GO) film properties to sustain controlled antibiotic release from cotton wound dressings for biomedical applications. In order to accomplish this, we must create a GO film–cotton fiber interface which can exhibit controlled release of intercalates. As it has recently been reported that multilayered 2-D GO films exhibit controlled basal plane release of intercalates trapped within the layers of the film, this makes our objective more feasible. As for the creation of the interface, our work demonstrates that GO composites can be deposited as uniform films onto complex cotton substrates. The GO composite solution consists of Graphene Oxide, a crosslinker, and a polymer. To deposit the film onto the cotton substrate, the cotton dressings were saturated with stable composite solutions (with and without antibiotic) and air dried at elevated temperatures (~60˚C) for 30 minutes. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM) were used to characterize the films, and biological assays were used to confirm non-toxicity to human tissue and antibacterial. SEM images show textural differences between non-treated and treated cotton fibers. Fibers treated with the GO composites show smooth exteriors while fibers not treated with the composites exhibit textured exterior surfaces. OM results display color changes in the treated cotton dressings in contrast with the untreated dressings. Initial biological assay results indicate no hemolytic activity. The SEM results suggest GO composite film deposition onto the fibers. GO films, if mechanically undisturbed after deposition, are typically very smooth. The transition of textured, untreated cotton fibers to smooth fibers after treatment indicates film deposition onto the entire fiber. This is advantageous because it will maximize the area of film deposition and, therefore, will maximize the amount of antibiotic loading. The change in color of the cotton weaves ultimately indicates retention of GO on the fibers, as GO has a brown-like hue.