A Strategic Synthesis of Orange Waste-Derived Porous Carbon via a Freeze-Drying Method: Morphological Characterization and Cytocompatibility Evaluation
Angela S. Kaloudi,
Panagiota Zygouri,
Konstantinos Spyrou,
Antrea-Maria Athinodorou,
Eirini Papanikolaou,
Mohammed Subrati,
Dimitrios Moschovas,
K. K. R. Datta,
Zili Sideratou,
Apostolos Avgeropoulos,
Yannis V. Simos,
Konstantinos I. Tsamis,
Dimitrios Peschos,
Ioannis V. Yentekakis,
Dimitrios P. Gournis
Affiliations
Angela S. Kaloudi
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Panagiota Zygouri
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Konstantinos Spyrou
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Antrea-Maria Athinodorou
Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology Research Group, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Eirini Papanikolaou
Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology Research Group, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Mohammed Subrati
Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, NCSR “Demokritos”, Aghia Paraskevi, 15310 Attikis, Greece
Dimitrios Moschovas
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
K. K. R. Datta
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur 603203, Tamil Nadu, India
Zili Sideratou
Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, NCSR “Demokritos”, Aghia Paraskevi, 15310 Attikis, Greece
Apostolos Avgeropoulos
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Yannis V. Simos
Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology Research Group, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Konstantinos I. Tsamis
Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology Research Group, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Dimitrios Peschos
Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology Research Group, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Ioannis V. Yentekakis
School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
Dimitrios P. Gournis
School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
Porous carbon materials from food waste have gained growing interest worldwide for multiple applications due to their natural abundance and the sustainability of the raw materials and the cost-effective synthetic processing. Herein, orange waste-derived porous carbon (OWPC) was developed through a freeze-drying method to prevent the demolition of the original biomass structure and then was pyrolyzed to create a large number of micro, meso and macro pores. The novelty of this work lies in the fact of using the macro-channels of the orange waste in order to create a macroporous network via the freeze-drying method which remains after the pyrolysis steps and creates space for the development of different types of porous in the micro and meso scale in a controlled way. The results showed the successful preparation of a porous carbon material with a high specific surface area of 644 m2 g−1 without any physical or chemical activation. The material’s cytocompatibility was also investigated against a fibroblast cell line (NIH/3T3 cells). OWPC triggered a mild intracellular reactive oxygen species production without initiating apoptosis or severely affecting cell proliferation and survival. The combination of their physicochemical characteristics and high cytocompatibility renders them promising materials for further use in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.
