Physical properties and biological investigations of polycaprolactone filled with zinc oxide/hematite nanoparticles to meet biomedical application

The biological properties of metal oxides offer great potential for the development of advanced biomaterials in the field of therapy. In this study, zinc oxide, hematite, and Polycaprolactone (PCL) were used to fabricate polymeric nano-composites (NCs) with the aim of addressing medical needs. The incorporation of hematite and zinc oxide into the NCs was driven by their unique light absorption properties and stability, making them promising optical constituents. The structure and size analysis of the NCs have been performed using XRD, FTIR, and FESEM techniques. Morphologically, the introduction of inorganic components led to changes in the porous structure of the NCs, resulting in a reduction in pore size. Additionally, UV–Vis spectroscopy revealed a shift in the absorption edge along the x-axis. For the binary composition PCL-ZnO, the absorption edge started at 4.35 eV, while for the PCL-ZnO-30 % Fe2O3 NC, it decreased to 1.5 eV. The results demonstrated that the NC exhibited 100 % cell viability when exposed to a concentration of 156.25 μg/ml, and even exceeded 100 % (120.7 %) when exposed to a concentration of 2.4 μg/ml. These findings suggest the potential of the PCL-ZnO-30 % Fe₂O₃ NC for medical applications, highlighting its favorable biocompatibility. As a result, the examined NCs are a potentially useful composition for medical applications.