Biocompatible hydrogel nanocomposite with covalently embedded silver nanoparticles

Bionanocomposite materials, combining the properties of biopolymers and nanostructured materials, are attracting interest of the wider scientific community due to their potential application in design of implants, drug delivery systems, and tissue design platforms. Herein, we report on the use of maleimide-coated silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) as cocross-linkers for the preparation of a bionanocomposite gelatin based hydrogel. Diels-Alder cycloaddition of benzotriazole maleimide (BTM) functionalized Ag NPs and furan containing gelatin in combination with additional amide coupling resulted in stable and biocompatible hybrid nanocomposite. The storage moduli values for the hydrogel are nearly three times higher than that of control hydrogel without NPs indicating a stabilizing role of the covalently bound NPs. Finally, the swelling and drug release properties of the materials as well as the biocompatibility and toxicity tests indicate the biomedical potential of this type of material.