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Abstract
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This study focuses on the synergy effect of Urtica dioica as a natural medicinal plant and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) as a common and active antibacterial metal oxide on the microstructure, composition, mechanical properties, hydrophobicity, antibacterial activity, and fibroblast cell cytotoxicity of biocompatible polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds. The nanostructured fibrous pristine and hybrid scaffolds were provided using the electrospinning method. The microstructure of scaffolds was characterized using FESEM, EDS, FTIR. The results indicated that the incorporation of Urtica dioica and ZnO NPs have a significant impact on the morphology and molecular bond groups of the PCL scaffold. The evaluation of the strain-stress curve of scaffolds depicted that the incorporation of Urtica dioica enhances the tensile strength from 1.52 MPa to 2.54 MPa. The incorporation of Urtica dioica and ZnO NPs improves the water uptake ability, regulates the water affinity between hydrophobicity-hydrophilicity and controls the release of Urtica dioica. The hybrid composition made the highest antibacterial hybrid scaffold against E. coli and S. aureus. Cell cytotoxicity studies using fibroblast L929 cells also showed that the highest cell viability (97.8 %) is for a hybrid Urtica dioica and ZnO scaffold where the proper cell adhesion to fibers of the scaffold with a polar shape morphology occurs. Our findings suggest that incorporation of 4 wt.% of Urtica dioica and 1 wt.% of ZnO NPs to PCL scaffold leads to the best properties for wound dressing application.
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