Development of noncytotoxic silver-chitosan nanocomposites for efficient control of biofilm forming microbes.

ABSTRACT: Severe bacterial and fungal infections have become a major clinical and public health concern. Nowadays, additional efforts are needed to develop effective antimicrobial materials that are not harmful to human cells. This work describes the synthesis and characterization of chitosan-ascorbic acid-silver nanocomposites as films exhibiting high antimicrobial activity and non-cytotoxicity towards human cells. The reductive and stabilizing activity of both the biocompatible polymer chitosan and ascorbic acid were used in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Herein, we propose an improved composite synthesis based on medium average molecular weight chitosan with a high deacetylation degree, that together with ascorbic acid gave films with a uniform distribution of small AgNPs (<10 nm)

SUBMITTER: Regiel-Futyra A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5735359 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature