Safer functionalised cellulose composites for environmental and medical applications: design and manufacturing

The project is aiming to develop safer functionalised cellulose composites for environmental and medical applications, including water purification and antibacterial action, and design an easy scale-up process for manufacture.

Cellulose is the most abundant and sustainable natural polymer on the planet. It is considered as one of the most well-known renewable, environmentally friendly, and biocompatible materials. Metal nanoparticles, including silver (Ag), copper (Cu), gold (Au), titanium dioxide (TiO2) and copper oxide (CuO), have been successfully functionalised onto cellulose in the last decades. However, the dramatic expansion of the applications of nanomaterials also gives rise to the requirement to investigate the potentially toxic effects of nanoparticles towards the human body. In an ideal situation, nanomaterials should have maximum inhibitory power over bacterial growth with minimum cytotoxicity on normal human cells.

Previous research in the group approved that compounds extracted from natural plants can significantly reduce the cytotoxicity of the nanocomposite while the toxicity towards bacteria still maintained at a high level. In this project, the researcher will design functionalised cellulose composites which are safe for human cells and toxic for bacteria and develop a continuous manufacture process for easy scale-up. The cellular and genome toxicity will be assessed by an established battery of tests used for nanotoxicity testing of clinical nanoconstructs.