In vitro biocompatibility evaluation of radiolytically synthesized silver/polyvinyl hydrogel nanocomposites for wound dressing applications

Abstract

Nano silver/polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel nanocomposites have been prepared using gamma irradiation technique. Gamma irradiation serves as a crosslinking agent for the polyvinyl alcohol hydrogels and also acts as a reducing agent for reduction of Ag+ ions to zero valent Ag0 within the polyvinyl alcohol crosslinked network. The microstructural characteristics of the prepared composites were studied using powder X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis. The data obtained by these characterizations indicate the homogeneous distribution of silver nanoparticles on the polyvinyl alcohol network. The swelling properties and mechanical parameters of the silver/polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel nanocomposites tend to show improvements, making them a better material for wound care applications. The silver/polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel nanocomposites have shown good antibacterial potential against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and shown nil or minimal cytotoxic effect on human melanoma (SK-MEL-2) and mouse melanoma (B16-F1) cell lines. Overall, it was concluded that under optimized condition, silver/polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel nanocomposites synthesized using gamma irradiation technique are excellent candidates for wound dressing application.