A high-efficient antibacterial and biocompatible polyurethane film with Ag@rGO nanostructures prepared by microwave-assisted method: Physicochemical and dermal wound healing evaluation

Abbas Mohammadi; Zahra Ghorbanian Kerdabadi; Seyed Ahmad Ayati Najafabadi; Alireza Pourali; Fereshteh Nejaddehbashi; Nastaran Azarbarz; Kaveh Hatami Kahkesh; Mehrnoosh Ebrahimibagha

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21783

A high-efficient antibacterial and biocompatible polyurethane film with Ag@rGO nanostructures prepared by microwave-assisted method: Physicochemical and dermal wound healing evaluation

Heliyon. 2023 Oct 31;9(11):e21783. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21783. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Authors

Abbas Mohammadi¹, Zahra Ghorbanian Kerdabadi², Seyed Ahmad Ayati Najafabadi³, Alireza Pourali², Fereshteh Nejaddehbashi⁴, Nastaran Azarbarz⁴, Kaveh Hatami Kahkesh⁵, Mehrnoosh Ebrahimibagha⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Isfahan, Isfahan 81746-73441, I.R. Iran.
² School of Chemistry, Damghan University, 36716-41167 Damghan, Iran.
³ Department of Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering and Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁴ Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Medical Basic Sciences Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
⁵ Department of Basic Medical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran.
⁶ Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Institute, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Wound infections are a significant issue that can hinder the wound healing process. One way to address this problem is by enhancing the antibacterial activity of wound dressings. Accordingly, this work focuses on developing a castor-oil-based antibacterial polyurethane nanocomposite film impregnated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) decorated on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanostructures (Ag@rGO). To this aim, rGOs act as a platform to stabilize AgNPs and improve their bioavailability and dispersion quality within the PU film. The microwave-assisted synthesis of Ag@rGO nanohybrids was proved by FTIR, XRD, TGA, FE-SEM, EDS, and TEM analyses. Compared to PU/GO, the effect of Ag@rGO nanohybrids on thermo-mechanical features, morphology, antibacterial activity, cytocompatibility, and in vivo wound healing was assessed. SEM photomicrographs revealed the enhanced dispersion of Ag@rGO nanohybrids compared to GO nanosheets. Besides, according to XRD results, PU/Ag@rGO nanocomposite film demonstrated higher microphase mixing, which could be due to the finely dispersed Ag@rGO nanostructures interrupting the hydrogen bonding interactions in the hard segments. Moreover, PU/Ag@rGO nanocomposite showed excellent antibacterial behavior with completely killing E. coli and S. aureus bacteria. In vitro and in vivo wound healing studies displayed PU/Ag@rGO film effectively stimulated fibroblast cells proliferation, migration and re-epithelialization. However, the prepared antibacterial PU/Ag@rGO nanocomposite film has the potential to be used as a biomaterial for dermal wound healing applications.

Keywords: Antibacterial polyurethanes; Castor oil; Nanocomposite; Reduced graphene oxide; Silver nanoparticles; wound dressing.