Articles & Issues
- Language
- English
- Conflict of Interest
- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
- Publication history
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Received April 8, 2026
Accepted July 24, 2026
Available online November 25, 2026
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
All issues
Cynara Scolymus Derived Carbon Dots as Functional Nanofillers for Sustainable Bioactive Furcellaran/Carboxymethyl Cellulose Films
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-026-00796-y
Abstract
Furcellaran (FUR) is a polysaccharide extracted from red algae with excellent film forming abilities. Meanwhile, carboxymethyl
cellulose (CMC) is a polymer derived from cellulose and possesses desirable characteristics like non-allergen and
fracture resistance. Blending these two complementary polymers can contribute to the preparation of sustainable materials
with improved properties and meet the pillars of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On the other hand, the absence
of antioxidant and antibacterial capabilities shall restrict the potential use of these materials in several fields such as
biomedical applications and packaging. Herein, FUR/CMC films incorporated with different amounts of carbon quantum
dots synthesized from Cynara Scolymus (artichoke leaves, arti-CQDs) were prepared by solvent casting. The UV shielding
properties were highly improved, the hydrophobicity was increased and equilibrium swelling ratio was decreased in FUR/
CMC/arti-CQD films depending on the amount of polycrystalline structured arti-CQD. The Young’s modulus decreased,
and more flexible films were obtained. The FUR/CMC/arti-CQD films displayed excellent antioxidant properties and
antibacterial activity towards Gram-positive (S. aureus and L.monocytogenes) and Gram-negative (E.coli) bacteria depending
on arti-CQD amount. The antibacterial FUR/CMC/arti-CQD films were non-toxic towards L 929 mouse fibroblasts.
It is concluded that FUR/CMC/arti-CQD films have notable potential as bioactive, sustainable, and renewable materials.

