The aim of this study was to determine the impact of detonation nanodiamond (DND) on the mechanical, thermal and antibacterial properties of cellulose acetate (CA) membrane. In order to achieve an efficient dispersion of
DNDs in the polymeric matrix, they were functionalized via heat treatment. Different amounts of raw and functionalized DND; 0 to 0.75 wt.%, were added to the CA and various structural and characterization analyses such as
scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermal gravimetric analysis
(TGA) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) were also carried out. Mechanical strength analysis revealed that
both raw and carboxylated DND have great influence on the mechanical behavior of CA membrane particularly
at 0.5 wt.% of nanoparticles (NPs) content. Application of Pukanszky's model for tensile strength and
micromechanical models for tensile modulus revealed that strong interfacial interaction and thick interphase region are formed around the NPs. In addition, the TGA results showed that the incorporation of 0.5 wt.% of the DND
and DND-COOH improved the thermal stability of the CA membrane. The antibacterial tests confirmed that the
nanocomposite membranes containing DND-COOH displayed greater antibacterial enhancement against
Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus).