Biocompatibility enhancement of graphene oxide-silver nanocomposite by functionalisation with polyvinylpyrrolidone

IET Nanobiotechnol. 2019 Oct;13(8):816-823. doi: 10.1049/iet-nbt.2018.5321.

Abstract

Several materials such as silver are used to enhance graphene oxide (GO) sheets antimicrobial activity. However, these toxic materials decrease its biocompatibility and hinder its usage in many biological applications. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop nanocomposites that can preserve both the antimicrobial activity and biocompatibility simultaneously. This work highlights the importance of functionalisation of GO sheets using Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and decorating them with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in order to enhance their antimicrobial activity and biocompatibility at the same time. The structural and morphological characterisations were performed by UV-Visible, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and Raman spectroscopic techniques, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The antimicrobial activities of the prepared samples against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans were studied. The cytotoxicity of prepared materials was tested against BJ1 normal skin fibroblasts. The results indicated that the decoration with AgNPs showed a significant increase in the antimicrobial activity of GO and FGO sheets, and functionalisation of GO sheets and GO-Ag nanocomposite with PVP improved the cell viability about 40 and 35%, respectively.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Candida albicans
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Coated Materials, Biocompatible / chemical synthesis*
  • Coated Materials, Biocompatible / chemistry
  • Coated Materials, Biocompatible / pharmacology
  • Coated Materials, Biocompatible / standards
  • Fibroblasts / cytology
  • Fibroblasts / drug effects
  • Fibroblasts / physiology
  • Graphite / chemistry*
  • Graphite / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Materials Testing
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Metal Nanoparticles / standards
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Nanocomposites / chemistry*
  • Nanocomposites / standards
  • Povidone / chemistry*
  • Povidone / pharmacology
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa
  • Quality Improvement
  • Silver / chemistry*
  • Silver / pharmacology
  • Skin / cytology
  • Skin / drug effects
  • Staphylococcus aureus

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Coated Materials, Biocompatible
  • graphene oxide
  • Silver
  • Graphite
  • Povidone