Structural, morphological features, and antibacterial behavior of PVA/PVP polymeric blends doped with silver nanoparticles via pulsed laser ablation

Abstract

Abstract Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) blends doped with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been fabricated using laser ablation technique in one spot. The physical features of AgNPs@PVA/PVP layers were detected by XRD, FTIR, and FESEM techniques. Regarding XRD analysis upon different laser ablation times, and silver content induces a variation of PVA/PVP peaks intensities. The surface morphology was exhibited as well size and particle distribution of AgNPs through the blend surfaces. Further, the particle size of AgNPs increases with ablation time from 45.3 nm to 55.4–81.3 nm for the t = 5.0 and 20.0 min, respectively. Besides, the roughness average increased from 60.99 nm at t = 0 min to 102.4 nm at t = 20 min. Besides, the highest contact angle of 61.3 ± 3.1° was detected for pristine PVP/PVP, which decreased with increasing silver content, reaching 38.1 ± 2.1° at t = 20 min. Moreover, the highest cell viability percentage is recorded by the highest silver content composite by 97.1 ± 3.2%. Further, the antibacterial activity was examined and showed that the inhibition zone reached around 17.3 ± 1.9 and 17.1 ± 2.1 mm against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, receptively. The fabricated AgNPs@PVA/PVP films could be suggested to be utilized for wound healing/dressing application.