Coating of silver nanoparticles on polyurethane film surface by green chemistry approach and investigation of antibacterial activity against S. epidermidis

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles with potential antibacterial properties are included in biomaterials for the production of medical devices, which are used for diagnoses or treatment purposes. The aim of the current study was coating the polyurethane (PU) films with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) due to their antibacterial efficacy. PU films were first modified by chitosan (CH), treated with AgNO3 to let CH chelate with silver ions, and then treated with vitamin-C (vit C) or glucose (Glu) to reduce the adsorbed ions to atomic silver to form AgNPs. The surfaces of the films were examined by ATR-FTIR, XPS, XRD, and SEM. Chemical bond formation between CH and Ag ions and AgNPs were determined by ATR-FTIR. Meanwhile, XPS and SEM analyses proved the presence of reduced metallic silver and nanoparticles on the film surfaces, respectively. According to the SEM analyses, a homogeneous distribution of AgNPs, with sizes 99–214 nm and 37–54 nm, on the film surfaces were obtained depending on Glu or vit C reduction, respectively. The films presented excellent antibacterial performance against Gram positive Staphylococcus epidermidis ( S. epidermidis). These results suggested that the mentioned green technology can be easily applied to obtain AgNP coated polymeric surfaces with very high antibacterial efficacy. Although there are some studies dealing with AgNP formation on PU sponges or fibers, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study showing AgNP formation on the CH conjugated PU films.

Non-soluble antibacterial polyurethane based on cation mechanism and functionalized by chitosan and heparin azide

“…PU by grafting chitosan and heparin by a step-bystep method and the antibacterial rates were 15% and 46% [31]. Kara et al added silver ions onto the surface of PU-chitosan films and the antibacterial rates were 27% and 54% [32]. Akram et al prepared chitosan/PU composites and the antibacterial rates were 45% and 42% [33].…”

Progress in Nanostructured Mechano-Bactericidal Polymeric Surfaces for Biomedical Applications

“…A common strategy is the widespread use of bactericidal and bacteria-repelling chemical agents, such as antibiotics and antiseptics [110]. Under the same category, antimicrobial surface coatings are more popular in many antibacterial applications [111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118]. Metal (Ag, Au, Cu, Zn) nanoparticles [113,119,120], metal oxide (ZnO, MgO, CuO, TiO 2 ) nanoparticles [120,121], graphene family materials [122][123][124][125], fullerene [126,127], and carbon nanotubes [125] are frequently used as coatings [128] and additives for composites [129] in implants.…”