Fig. 6

Cell and bacterial viability analysis of NGQD-loaded core-shell microspheres. a Core-shell cell viability test over a 15-day incubation, with samples analyzed every third day. (i) The two left columns show NGQD-loaded core-shell microspheres, while the two right columns show microspheres without NGQDs. The left images include BF and fluorescence channels (blue, green, and red), while the right images show only the fluorescence channels (blue, green, and red), excluding BF. (ii) Bar plot indicating the result, which indicates that cells remained alive and viable throughout the 15-day period with over 88% viability, demonstrating the high biocompatibility of the core-shell microspheres, both with and without NGQDs. b(i) E. coli viability test conducted under the same parameters as the cell culture experiment, the two left columns correspond to NGQD-loaded core-shell microspheres, while the two right columns correspond to microspheres without NGQDs. b(ii) Bar plot of live vs. dead count for E. coli viability. c(i) EcNF encapsulation with alginate solution at higher pH (13 instead of 8.5 used in the cell experiment) and c(ii) showing the live/dead percentage for this experiment with very significant decay in viability. All scale bars: 200 µm