Layered double hydroxide nanozyme decorated polycaprolactone membranes as superoxide radical scavengers

The excess amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a crucial problem in health and in many industrial processes. Nanozymes of antioxidant enzyme mimicking features are promising ROS scavengers, however, their formulation is challenging. This work focuses on the development of a ROS decomposing polymer mesh by immobilization of Cu(II) containing layered double hydroxide (CMA3) nanozymes on the surface of polycaprolactone (PCL) membranes prepared by the electrospinning method. The CMA3 nanoparticles were electrosprayed on PCL meshes resulting in the formation of nanozyme ring patterns. The amount of immobilized CMA3 was proportional to the flow rate during electrospraying, while the interfacial spider web-like structure was not significantly affected by this parameter. The obtained PCL-CMA3 composite materials showed remarkable superoxide radical anion scavenging activity. Such a decoration of the PCL mesh with CMA3 provides a possible solution for antioxidant nanozyme formulation for biomedical and industrial applications combatting the overproduction of ROS molecules.