First successful design of semi-IPN hydrogel–silver nanocomposites: A facile approach for antibacterial application

Semi-IPN hydrogels in which poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) chains were physically dispersed throughout poly(acrylamide) (PAM) gel networks were synthesized. These semi-IPN hydrogel networks can act as excellent nanoreactors for producing and stabilizing metal nanoparticles. The current methodology allows us to entrap metal nanoparticles throughout hydrogel networks via PVP chains. An optimized semi-IPN hydrogel formulation was found to produce silver nanoparticles, ca. 3–5 nm. The synthesized semi-IPN hydrogel–silver nanocomposites were fully characterized by using UV–vis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The developed semi-IPN hydrogel–silver nanocomposite (SHSNC) was evaluated for preliminary antibacterial applications.

Graphical abstractWe demonstrated for the first time that for semi-IPN hydrogel silver nanocomposites the silver nanoparticles are highly distributed throughout the gel networks. For this, a number of different IPN hydrogels were prepared by varying the concentration of interpenetrate polymer, i.e., poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), cross-linker, initiator, and activators. It was found that highly cross-linked semi-IPN gel networks allow the silver nanoparticles to grew and alignment of particles inside the gel networks showed 5–10 nm in diameter. The developed semi-IPN hydrogel silver nanocomposite exhibited excellent antibacterial characteristics. Figure: Silver nanoparticles grew inside the semi-IPN hydrogel networks and TEM image of silver nanoparticles.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide