Development of bacterial resistant acrylamide-polyvinylpyrrolidone-metal oxide hydrogel nanocomposites. (2021) - Owonubi, Shesan John
Abstract: Fabrication of polymer-based nanocomposites for numerous biomedical applications represents a predominant form of therapeutics for combating microbial and bacterial infections. Herein, we firstly synthesized metal oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) by previously reported precipitation methods. Hydrogel nanocomposites were then prepared by free radical polymerization of a combination of the synthesized MONPs, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and acrylamide. The hydrogel nanocomposites were characterized by FTIR, XRD and investigated for potential antibacterial protection. FTIR spectra of the prepared hydrogel nanocomposites revealed significant characteristic peaks of the distinctive MONPs within the polymer matrix. XRD micrographs revealed slight shifting of peak positions in nanocomposites; the change in peak intensity, coupled with the observed slight shift in the diffraction peaks of both CuO and ZnO nanoparticles confirmed the successful incorporation of the MONPs into the polymer matrix. The presence of the MONPs, in combination with PVP, displayed a synergistic antibacterial activity, with increasing concentration of the MONPs. The treatment against S.pneumoniae, revealed a zone of inhibition phenomenon which showed zones of PVP-5 > PVP-8 > PVP-6 > PVP-9 > PVP-7. PVP-1, PVP-2, PVP-3, PVP-4 did not show any significant zone of inhibition on treatment due to the quantity of MONPs present. The findings show that the hydrogel nanocomposites are potential topical wound dressing materials for the management of bacterial infections.