Abstract
The development of multifunctional nanocomposite materials is of great interest for various biomedical applications. A popular approach to produce tailored nanocomposites is to incorporate functional nanoparticles into hydrogels. Here, a benign atmospheric pressure microplasma synthesis approach has been deployed for the synthesis of metal and alloy NPs in‐situ in a poly (vinyl alcohol) hydrogel. The formation of gold, silver, and gold‐silver alloy NPs was confirmed via spectroscopic and microscopic characterization techniques. The properties of the hydrogel were not compromised during formation of the composites. Practical applications of the NP/PVA nanocomposites has been demonstrated by anti‐bacterial testing. This establishes AMP processing as a viable one‐step technique for the fabrication of NP/hydrogel composites, with potential multifunctionality for a range of biomedical applications.
Highlights
The application of metal nanoparticles (NPs) in the biomedical field has brought about exciting opportunities in many areas such as anti-microbial,[1] sensing,[2] drug delivery,[3] and bio-imaging,[4] etc
The yellow color of the Atmospheric Pressure Plasma (AMP)-treated solution is typical of colloidal silver, while the appearance of the red/purple solution implies the formation of AuNPs with certain size distribution
Since the physical mixture of different metal NPs will lead to two distinct absorption peaks,[49] the single absorption peaks exhibited by our AuAg/Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) samples with their peak position shifted toward the Ag characteristic peak, suggests the formation an bimetallic phase.[50,51]
Summary
The application of metal nanoparticles (NPs) in the biomedical field has brought about exciting opportunities in many areas such as anti-microbial,[1] sensing,[2] drug delivery,[3] and bio-imaging,[4] etc. Incorporation of metal NPs such as AgNPs and/or AuNPs into PVA hydrogel can lead to composite systems that demonstrate mutual benefits of their individual constituent, leading to multi-functional materials that hold great promise for various applications, such as anti-microbial, sensing, bioimaging, drug delivery, and many others.[19,20]
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