An eco-friendly synthesis, characterisation and antibacterial applications of gellan gum based silver nanocomposite hydrogel

Abstract

Gellan gum based silver nanocomposite hydrogel prepared by using microwave assisted method. The mixture of Gellan gum, acrylamide, and 2-Acrylamido methyl propane sulphonic acid in presence of Ammonium persulphate as a intiator, and N,N-methylenebisacrylamide as cross linker resulted in the cross linked graft copolymer network (GG-g-poly(AAm-co-AMPS)). Silver nano particles have been formed and stabilized by using trisodium citrate in the gel network to reduce silver nitrate. The hydrogel and nanocomposite were characterized using X-ray diffraction method (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-Vis spectroscopy techniques. UV-Vis spectroscopy confirmed the presence Ag NPs in the hydrogels due the characteristic plasmon resonance surface. Further XRD analysis also confirms the presence of Ag NPs. The effect of incorporation of Ag NPs on the biological activity of GG-g-poly (AAm-co-AMPS) gel was studied by zone inhibition method considering two bacterial strains. The composite gel exhibited higher antibacterial activity compared to the parent gel. Examples include the utilization of NPs in antibacterial coatings for implantable devices and medicinal materials to prevent infection and promote wound healing, in antibiotic delivery systems to treat disease, in bacterial detection systems to generate microbial diagnostics, and in antibacterial vaccines to control bacterial infections