Safety assessment control on mouse fibroblast cells compared with various chemically synthesized graphene oxide nanocomposites

The recent rate of the expansion of graphene nanomaterials requires appropriate toxicological assessment for biomedical usage. The toxicity of graphene and its composites is a major hurdle. Here, we report the effects of reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites on mouse fibroblast (NCTC-929) cells with the aim for futuristic biomedical applications of our synthesized material such as wearable device. The rGO was prepared by modified Hummer's method and conjugated in comparison with carbon nanotubes (CNT), silver nanoparticles, zinc oxide particles and polyurethane to form nanocomposites. The as-prepared nanocomposites were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, field emission scanning electron microscopy and EDX analysis. As expected, most of our purified nanocomposites did not show any cytotoxicity on NCTC-929 cells when cultured with different doses of the samples. The nanomaterials were biocompatible and the cells displayed a viability of 80% and more. However, the nanocomposites that were autoclaved prior to testing were toxic. The materials with ZnO conjugation showed a dose dependent toxicity. The composites that had CNTs conjugated with rGO (rGO3C) were toxic than compared to the rGO-CNT conjugated with silver nanoparticles (rGO6CAgNP and rGO3CAgNP). When these nanomaterials are explored for several other applications in vivo, their biocompatibility is a major factor to be considered.