Nano-silver stabilized Pickering emulsions and their antimicrobial electrospun fibrous matrices

Abstract

Efficacy of nano-silver for its antimicrobial properties is proven and a significant academic and industrial research has been devoted on use of nano-silver in applications including filtration, textiles, biomedical and others. In present work, in situ synthesized nano-silver was used as a Pickering stabilizer for water-in-oil emulsion of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) which upon electrospinning led to formation of nano-silver containing fibrous matrix suitable as wound dressing. Nano-silver was synthetized in high yield using silver nitrate (AgNO 3 ) as precursor and two different reductants viz. sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in aqueous media which formed the dispersed phase of the emulsion. PCL solution in toluene comprised the continuous phase. Concentration of AgNO 3 and PCL was varied to study the effect on emulsion's stability. Nano-silver formed using PEO as reducing agent led to formation of highly stable emulsions in comparison to those formed using NaBH 4 . Emulsions thus produced were reproducibly electrospun to generate uniform fibrous matrices of desired fiber fineness. Nano-silver containing PCL matrices were assessed for their role as wound dressing by examining the antimicrobial properties.

Accelerated full-thickness skin wound tissue regeneration by self-crosslinked chitosan hydrogel films reinforced by oxidized CNC-AgNPs stabilized Pickering emulsion for quercetin delivery

“…The Qu-loaded PE stabilized by DCNC-AgNPs was fabricated using the method described elsewhere [13]. The oily phase was created by dissolving Qu into olive oil and determining the maximum Qu concentration soluble in the oil phase.…”

“…Since O/W PEs enhance hydrophobic drug penetration, adding Qu to them can overcome the topical administration constraints with Qu. Nanoparticles (NPs) from silica, gold, palladium, silver (Ag), iron oxide, titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide have been used to synthesize thermodynamic and kinetically stable PEs [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are renowned for their low toxicity, excellent anti-fouling, slow-release, and wound healing characteristics.…”

Electrostatic pair-interaction of nearby metal or metal-coated colloids at fluid interfaces

“…Self-assembly of metal particles at fluid interfaces together with distinct optical, electrical, and catalytic properties of metal particles are exploited in liquid like mirrors [20,21], sensors [22][23][24], detectors [25], filters [26], antennas [23], controllable and targeted drug delivery equipment [9][10][11][12], plasmonic rulers [27], or in purification processes [28]. Due to their antimicrobial effect, silver particle stabilized emulsions are suitable for biomedical and textile applications [29]. For many of these applications, particularly for optical applications, a regular array of particles is needed which can be easily achieved at fluid interfaces.…”