Physico- and bio-activities of nanoscale regenerated cellulose nonwoven immobilized with lysozyme

Lysozyme-cellulose conjugates are of wide interest for food packaging, tissue scaffolding, wound healing, and antimicrobial applications. Here a recycled cotton-based source of regenerated cellulose in combination with carboxylated carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide was configured as nonwoven nanofibrous mats through electrospinning and utilized to immobilize lysozyme. Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectra, thermal-gravimetric analysis, tensile test, and antibacterial assessments were conducted to characterize and determine physical and bioactive properties of the nonwoven nanofibrous mats. The resulted celluloselysozyme conjugates were found to have robust bioactivity with no indication of cell cytotoxicity. The study confirmed that the carbon-nanoparticle-modified cellulose nonwoven mats revealed a high antimicrobial activity after immobilization of lysozyme.