Graphene oxide integrated PET waste-derived Cu-BHET metal-organic frameworks with superior antioxidant activity and accelerated wound healing performance.

The sustainable valorization of plastic waste into high-value biomedical materials remains a critical challenge. In this work, we report the synthesis of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste-derived bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) based copper metal-organic framework (Cu-BHET MOF) and its graphene oxide integrated analogue (GO@Cu-BHET MOF) for advanced wound healing applications. BHET was first obtained via chemical depolymerization of PET waste and subsequently employed as an organic linker for MOF fabrication. The successful formation of Cu-BHET MOF and GO@Cu-BHET MOF was confirmed using FTIR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, demonstrating effective coordination between BHET, copper ions, and graphene oxide. The biological performance of the materials was systematically evaluated. DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assays revealed concentration-dependent antioxidant activity for Cu-BHET MOF, which increased from ∼10% to ∼50% as the concentration rose from 10 to 200 µg/mL. Remarkably, GO incorporation significantly enhanced antioxidant efficacy, with GO@Cu-BHET MOF exhibiting ∼40% scavenging at 10 µg/mL and nearly 80% at 200 µg/mL. Furthermore, GO@Cu-BHET MOF demonstrated superior antibacterial activity compared to Cu-BHET MOF. In vitro cytocompatibility studies using L929 fibroblast cells confirmed that both MOFs were non-toxic up to a concentration of 100 µg/mL. Wound scratch assays revealed that GO@Cu-BHET MOF achieved complete wound closure within 24 h at a low concentration of 10 µg/mL, whereas Cu-BHET MOF failed to induce complete healing at comparable concentrations. Overall, this study presents a waste-to-wealth strategy for developing biocompatible, antioxidant-rich, and antibacterial MOF-based materials, highlighting the strong potential of GO-integrated PET-derived Cu-BHET MOFs for efficient wound healing applications.