Evaluation of thermal, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, and wound healing properties of GO-Ag containing nanocomposites based on CS- PPFOEMA blend

Abstract

The new methacrylate-based polymer, poly (pentafluorophenyl)methyl 2-methylprop-2-enoate (PPFOEMA), was blended with CS biopolymer by in situ/hydrothermal method. The nanohybrid filler containing commercial graphene oxide (GO) and biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNP) was incorporated into the CS-PPFOEMA mixture by hydrothermal treatment. PFOEMA and PPFOEMA were characterized by FTIR and NMR techniques, while the nanocomposites were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM, and EDX analysis. The thermal properties of the materials were determined by TGA and DSC techniques. According to TGA data, PPFOEMA caused a decrease in the thermal stability of CS. However, the thermal stability increased after the incorporation of GO-AgNPs into the blend by hydrothermal method. The initial degradation temperature of the CS-PPFOEMA blend, which was 240 °C, increased to 260 °C after adding 7 % GO-Ag. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of CS decreased after blending and after the incorporation of GO-AgNPs into the blend. The antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the GO-AgNPs mixture was close to that of CS-PPFOEMA, but TAC levels increased with the inclusion of GO-AgNPs in the CS-PPFOEMA blend. While the cytotoxicity of CS in A549 cells was 100 μg/mL, it became 100 μg/mL after blending. Additionally, when GO-Ag was added to the CS-PPFOEMA mixture at different rates, toxic effects were observed starting from 100 μg/mL concentration. The nanocomposite containing 3 % GO-Ag was highly influential in wound healing. The results are promising for using nanocomposites formed by blending CS with synthetic PPFOEMA and adding GO-Ag NPs as safe biomaterials.