Synthesis and characterization of hydrogel‐silver nanoparticle‐curcumin composites for wound dressing and antibacterial application

Hydrogel silver nanocomposites are found to be excellent materials for antibacterial applications. To enhance their applicability novel hydrogel‐silver nanoparticle‐curcumin composites have been developed. For developing, these composites, the hydrogel matrices are synthesized first by polymerizing acrylamide in the presence of poly(vinyl sulfonic acid sodium salt) and a trifunctional crosslinker (2,4,6‐triallyloxy 1,3,5‐triazine, TA) using redox initiating system (ammonium persulphate/TMEDA). Silver nanoparticles are generated throughout the hydrogel networks using in situ method by incorporating the silver ions and subsequent reduction with sodium borohydride. Curcumin loading into hydrogel‐silver nanoparticles composite is achieved by diffusion mechanism. A series of hydrogel‐silver nanoparticle‐curcumin composites are developed and are characterized by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and UV–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, thermal analyses, as well as scanning and transmission electron microscopic (SEM/TEM) methods. An interesting arrangement of silver nanoparticles i.e., a shining sun shape (ball) (∼ 5 nm) with apparent smaller grown nanoparticles (∼ 1 nm) is observed by TEM. The curcumin loading and release characteristics are performed for various hydrogel composite systems. A comparative antimicrobial study is performed for hydrogel‐silver nanocomposites and hydrogel‐silver nanoparticle‐curcumin composites. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011