| Abstrakt: |
Ag-loaded hydrogels consisting of sodium 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonate and bacterial cellulose (BC) with different compositions were synthesized via UV photopolymerization. They formed translucent brown sheets because of the reduction of Ag+ to Ag0. The synthesized hydrogels contained an equilibrium water content of approximately 99.0%. High BC levels in the hydrogel structure enhanced the water capacity of the material. This indicates that the mechanism for the swelling process corresponded to the non-Fickian diffusion mechanism. The 5 % BC hydrogel exhibited the loosest polymer network, as indicated by water absorption and kinetics studies of water uptake. The water retention (WR) and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) showed increasing trends with increased BC content, and the 15 % BC hydrogel showed the highest values of approximately 0.40 % and 45 g/m2/h for equilibrium WR and WVTR, respectively. Additionally, incorporation of 10 and 15 % BC into hydrogels significantly improved the mechanical properties with application of 0.25 and 0.30 MPa of stress, respectively, which constituted a dramatic increase when compared with the stress for 0 % BC (0.015 MPa). BC contents of 10 % and 15 % also resulted in Young's modulus values that were approximately 10 and 12 times greater, respectively, than those of the hydrogel without BC. This mechanical tensile strength enhancement resulted from increased fiber characteristics within the materials, as observed in scanning electron microscopy studies of hydrogel morphologies. Moreover, BC prolonged silver release from the hydrogels because of interactions between silver ions and BC chains, which resulted in cumulative levels of silver release ranging from approximately 55.0 % to 85.0 % depending on hydrogel composition. The antibacterial activity of the Ag-loaded hydrogel inhibited P. aeruginosa gram-negative bacteria and slightly inhibited S. aureus gram-positive bacteria, with inhibition zones of 1.6 and 1.3 mm. Consequently, the Ag-loaded hydrogels studied in this research might have potential for use as antibacterial wound dressing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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