Synthesis of Castor Oil based Pristine and Silver Nanoparticle Embedded Polyurethanes and their Characterization by Thermal and Antibacterial Activity Analysis for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Ecofriendly and sustainable pristine and silver nanoparticle embedded polyurethanes (PUs)/polyureas were synthesized by using the renewable castor oil as the main component, 1,6-hexane diol, poly(propylene glycol) and poly(propylene glycol)-bis-2-amino propyl ether as chain extenders, trimethylolpropane/or glycerol as cross linkers and toluene diisocyanate and dibutyltindilaurate as curator and catalyst, respectively. The prepared PUs were characterized for their thermal degradation by simultaneous TGA/DTA, structural features by FT-IR and antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and E. coli. The onset degradation temperature (265-269 ºC) of the PUs was much lower than the onset weight loss temperature of castor oil. In air, the thermal degradation was exothermic at temperatures beyond 300 ºC. Unlike the pristine PUs, AgNPs embedded PUs displayed antibacterial activity and comparatively lower degradation temperature due to the catalytic effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). These PUs may be used for various biomedical applications such as antibacterial foam, antibacterial scaffold, body implant, food packaging, wound dressing, etc.