Green Synthesis of Carbon Dots and Their Integration into Nylon-11 Nanofibers for Enhanced Mechanical Strength and Biocompatibility

Abstract

Carbon dots (CDs) have been extensively explored to show good optical features, low toxicity, and good biocompatibility. Herein, we report the new synthesis of forsythia-derived CDs (F-CDs) and their incorporation into Nylon-11 nanofibers for improved mechanical properties and biocompatibility. F-CDs are prepared from a Chinese herb forsythia via a magnetic hyperthermia method in 90 s without the use of any organic solvents. The as-prepared F-CDs with rich surface functional groups can be well embedded into Nylon-11 nanofibers via electrospinning, providing Nylon-11/F-CD nanofiber mats with remarkably enhanced mechanical properties. With the incorporation of F-CDs at 10 wt% into the Nylon-11 nanofiber mats, the tensile strength increases from 7.5 to 16.6 MPa, and the elongation ratio at break increases from 39% to 125%. Moreover, the Nylon-11/F-CD nanofiber mats exhibit excellent cytocompatibility towards L929 fibroblast cells with cell viability of 96%. These findings may guide the development of various CD-embedded nanofiber mats with good mechanical properties and biocompatibility potentially useful for biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering scaffolds or wound dressing.