Siloxane-Silver Nanofluid as Potential Self-Assembling Disinfectant: A Preliminary Study on the Role of Functional Alkoxysilanes

Abstract

Antimicrobial drug resistance among bacterial and fungal communities have been created a huge challenge for clinicians in treating infections. Conventional antibiotics get non-functional with time due to the rapid adaptation of microorganisms to the environment. Therefore, exploring alternative antimicrobial drugs/nanomaterials to treat such infections is highly needed. Therefore, an alternative to conventional antibiotics, functional alkoxysilane capped Ag-NPs synthesized from 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane mediated conversion of silver cations in the presence of three different organic reducing agents, i.e., cyclohexanone, 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane and formaldehyde. The antimicrobial potential of synthesized silver nanoparticles was tested against Acinetobacter bauminnii, Candida albicans (mostly causes nosocomial infections) and sporangiospores of Mucorales (Rhizopus arrhizus), which showed a promising result. In addition to low MIC values, these Ag-NPs have shown variable killing dynamics as a function of reducing agents. Further, these functionalized silver nanoparticles were mixed with siloxane polymer to prepare three different siloxane-silver nanofluids. Siloxane-silver nanofluid can be self-assembled when diluted in a desirable volatile solvent on any inanimate surfaces such as medical catheters, surgical clothes and surgical bandages. Finally, the sprays were converted into thin films on sterile plastic strips and examined for their antibacterial activity against drug-resistant bacteria A baumannii. The antibacterial activity of nanofluid thin film has been found as a function of organic reducing reagents that control the morphology of the self-assembled film.