In-situ formation of ZnO nanorods on bacterial cellulose nanofibers for antibacterial efficacy

In this work, affordable and biopolymer-based antibacterial material was fabricated through in-situ formation of ZnO nanorods. For that purpose, bacterial cellulose nanofibers (BCNFs) were obtained with the cultivation of Acetobacter xylinum, following that ZnO nanorods were in-situ formed in a single dimension on BCNFs using hexamethylenetetramine, a chelating agent. Before the antibacterial efficacy of antibacterial material toward gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial species, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were applied and swelling studies, and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) measurements were done for characterization studies. As demonstrated in SEM images and XRD analysis, ZnO nanorods with hexagonal wurtzite structures were successfully in-situ formed on BC surface. EDX analysis confirmed the presence of Zn and O, showing 54.1% and O 20.8% by weight on BC, respectively, and 32.24% of Zn was determined on BC surface using AAS measurements. The MIC values of antibacterial material were calculated 12.28 µg ZnO/mL for Escherichia coli (E. coli) and 6.28 µg ZnO/mL for Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) species. © 2025 Wiley-VCH GmbH.