Cytotoxicity of methylcellulose-based films containing graphenes and curcumin on human lung fibroblasts

[Display omitted] •Methylcellulose-based films with graphene derivatives and curcumin were prepared.•The films create favorable environmental conditions for HFL-1 cells survival.•Reduced graphene oxide showed lower cytotoxicity than graphene oxide.•Curcumin as antioxidant caused a concentration-dependent number reduction of cells. The present study focused on the preparation, physico-chemical, and biological characterization of several composite films containing graphene derivatives (graphene oxide or reduced graphene oxide) and curcumin as antioxidant in methylcellulose matrix. The morphostructural properties of the obtained composites were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The biological effects of composites were evaluated using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay for cell viability and cytotoxicity determination on human lung fibroblast (HFL-1) cell line. Interestingly, the composite films containing graphene oxide showed higher cytotoxicity than those with reduced graphene oxide. In addition, the exposure of HFL-1 cell line to composites containing curcumin showed that the antioxidant caused a concentration-dependent reduction in the number of cells. The components and the physico-chemical properties of the composites create favorable environmental conditions for HFL-1 cell survival and provide bioactive substrates for HFL-1 cell growth.