Abstract
The design of new materials with antimicrobial properties has emerged in response to the need for preventing and controlling the growth of pathogenic microorganisms without the use of antibiotics. In this study, partially reduced graphene oxide decorated with silver nanoparticles (GO–AgNPs) was incorporated as a reinforcing filler with antibacterial properties to poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) for preparation of poly(vinyl alcohol)/graphene oxide-silver nanoparticles nanocomposites (PVA/GO–AgNPs). AgNPs, spherical in shape and with an average size of 3.1 nm, were uniformly anchored on the partially reduced GO surface. PVA/GO–AgNPs nanocomposites showed exfoliated structures with improved thermal stability, tensile properties and water resistance compared to neat PVA. The glass transition and crystallization temperatures of the polymer matrix increased with the incorporation of the hybrid. The nanocomposites displayed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in a filler content- and time-dependent manner. S. aureus showed higher susceptibility to PVA/GO–AgNPs films than E. coli. Inhibitory activity was higher when bacterial cells were in contact with nanocomposite films than when in contact with leachates coming out of the films. GO–AgNPs based PVA nanocomposites could find application as wound dressings for wound healing and infection prevention.
Highlights
Misuse and overuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of multi-drug resistance microorganisms.To prevent and combat them it is important to develop new antimicrobial materials
We report the preparation of antibacterial poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/Graphene oxide (GO)–AgNPs nanocomposites by the ex situ approach and their characterization
Graphite flakes were purchased from Alfa Aesar (Karlsruhe, Germany) (99.8%, 325 mesh), sodium nitrate (NaNO3 ) was obtained from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany), sulphuric acid (H2 SO4, 98%), potassium permanganate (KMnO4 ), hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2, 30 wt % aqueous solution), hydrochloric acid (HCl, 37% aqueous solution) and ammonium hydroxide were acquired from Panreac (Barcelona, Spain), while L-Ascorbic acid (L-AA), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) (Mw = 61,000 Da, degree of hydrolysis 98.0–98.8 mol %), silver nitrate (AgNO3 ) and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) were supplied by Sigma–Aldrich
Summary
Misuse and overuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of multi-drug resistance microorganisms. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a synthetic polymer, has found applications in the biomedical area due to its properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, low toxicity, chemical and mechanical resistance, and good water solubility It has some limitations such as the lack of antimicrobial properties, in biomedical applications biofilm formation can develop on its surface, acting as a potential source of persistent infections. GO reinforced PVA composites have been prepared and investigated by several authors [35,36,37,38,39,40] These studies have reported improvement in properties at low filler content, being the interactions through hydrogen bonding between the hydroxyl groups of PVA and the abundant oxygenated functional groups on GO surface responsible for such enhancements. The incorporation of GO–AgNPs hybrid with an AgNPs average size of 3.1 nm into PVA led to antibacterial composite films with improved thermal, mechanical and water resistance properties
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