Silver Nanowire-Coated Porous Alginate Films for Wound Dressing Applications: Antibacterial Activity, Cell
Nilay Kahya1, Aslin Kartun2, Işık Neslişah Korkut3
1Faculty of Science and Letters, Department of Chemistry, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, Istanbul 34469, Turkey.
ACS Omega
|December 23, 2024
Summary
New porous calcium alginate films, enhanced with silver nanowires, show promise as wound dressings. These materials exhibit improved physical properties, antibacterial activity, and support cell proliferation, indicating their potential for advanced wound care applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Materials Engineering
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Calcium alginate films are widely used in biomedical applications.
- Developing advanced wound dressings requires materials with enhanced physical properties and biological activity.
- Incorporating nanomaterials can improve the functionality of existing biomaterials.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop porous calcium alginate films using poly(vinyl) alcohol as a pore-forming agent.
- To investigate the effect of silver nanowire coating on the properties and biological performance of these films.
- To evaluate the potential of these novel materials as wound dressing agents.
Main Methods:
- Porous calcium alginate films were fabricated with varying concentrations of poly(vinyl) alcohol.
- Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize film porosity and structure.
- Human fibroblast cell attachment and proliferation assays (MTT) were conducted.
- Antibacterial activity, swelling ability, and water vapor transmission rate were assessed.
- Films were coated with silver nanowires (AgNWs).
Main Results:
- Porous calcium alginate films were successfully developed with controlled pore sizes.
- Silver nanowire coating enhanced human fibroblast cell proliferation and demonstrated nontoxicity.
- The silver nanowire-doped films exhibited significant antibacterial activity.
- Swelling ability and water vapor transmission rate were notably increased in the porous, AgNW-coated films.
- The 0.5% PVA-derived film coated with 1 wt% AgNW showed a ~64% increase in swelling and ~45% enhancement in water vapor transmission rate.
Conclusions:
- Novel silver nanowire-doped porous alginate materials possess desirable physical properties, including enhanced swelling and water vapor transmission.
- These materials demonstrate good biocompatibility, supporting cell proliferation and exhibiting no toxicity to human fibroblast cells.
- The developed materials show significant antibacterial activity, making them promising candidates for advanced wound dressing applications.
