In this work, nanofibers of zinc oxide (ZnO) were obtained through electrospinning of pork skin gelatin (PSG) and zinc acetate (ZnAc) dissolved in deionized water and acetic acid followed by a calcination process at 550 °C. The influence of metallic salt concentration and the weight percentage of the support polymer in the electrospinning precursor solution was systematically examined in relation to the morphological properties of the resulting calcined fibers. The fibers obtained were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) techniques. XRD patterns confirmed the formation of ZnO nanofibers after the calcination process. In contrast, SEM images documented the effect of synthesis parameters during the transformation of PSG/ZnAc fibers to ZnO ones. The results showed that the morphology and continuity of the calcined fibers depend on adequate relations among the ZnAc and PSG precursors. Furthermore, ZnO nanofibers obtained from the optimal electrospinning process were tested for the photodegradation of MB under UV irradiation (253 nm), resulting in 93.85% degradation in 3 h.

Implant-associated infections remain a major challenge in bone-related biomedical applications, where bacterial colonization and biofilm formation can compromise tissue integration and clinical performance. This study reports the mechanochemical synthesis, physicochemical characterization, antimicrobial activity, antibiofilm performance, and short-term fibroblast cytocompatibility of a TiO₂-containing bovine-derived biogenic hydroxyapatite ceramic composite (BHAp-TiO₂). The composite was prepared by high-energy mechanical milling using 10 wt% TiO₂ and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Rietveld refinement, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. XRD/Rietveld analysis identified a multiphase ceramic composite composed of hydroxyapatite, whitlockite, and rutile TiO₂, with no evidence of Ti⁴⁺ substitution into the hydroxyapatite lattice or detectable anatase within the XRD/Rietveld detection limit. SEM-EDS confirmed the granular agglomerated morphology of the powders and the elemental presence of Ti in BHAp-TiO₂. Compared with pristine BHAp, BHAp-TiO₂ produced a concentration-dependent reduction in AlamarBlue^®-derived bacterial metabolic activity against five clinically relevant planktonic strains. At 200 µg/mL, residual metabolic activity decreased to 10.90–32.90%, depending on the bacterial species, with the strongest response observed for Escherichia coli. In crystal violet assays, BHAp-TiO₂ markedly inhibited Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm biomass, reaching 91.9 ± 3.4% inhibition at 200 µg/mL. In NIH/3T3 fibroblasts, BHAp-TiO₂ preserved short-term cytocompatibility after 24 h of direct exposure within the 0.1–100 µg/mL range, with MTT- and AlamarBlue^®-derived responses remaining close to or above the 80% cytotoxicity limit. Overall, BHAp-TiO₂ is best interpreted as a rutile TiO₂-containing biogenic calcium phosphate ceramic composite with enhanced antimicrobial and antibiofilm performance while maintaining short-term fibroblast cytocompatibility under the evaluated conditions.