Preparation of graphene oxide nanoparticles and their derivatives: Evaluation of their antimicrobial and anti-proliferative activity against 3T3 cell line

Antibacterial applications of graphene derivatives have been very highlighted during the last decade. In this study, graphene-based materials, i.e., graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (RGO), and carboxylated graphene oxide (GO-COOH), were synthesized and characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometry, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and TEM. The main difference in these nanomaterials is the content of their oxygen-containing functional groups. According to EDX elemental analysis, GO-COOH has the highest ratio of carbon to oxygen and the highest oxygen-containing functional groups. Cytotoxicity of GO, RGO, and GO-COOH in eight concentrations at two times (24 and 48 h) on 3T3 cell lines showed concentration-dependence cytotoxicity for these three nanomaterials. The antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties of these three materials against gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria, as well as a fungus (Candida albicans), were evaluated by MIC, MBC, anti-biofilm, and Time-Kill tests. Our data demonstrated that the GO-COOH has the highest antimicrobial properties, which can result from increasing the oxygen-containing functional groups. To the best of our knowledge, comparing all cytotoxic, antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-biofilm properties of these three graphene derivatives in one study has not been reported yet.