HYDROXYPROPYL METHYLCELLULOSE AND SILVER NANOPARTICLES BASED ON ANTIBACTERIAL HYDROGELS

Abstract:

The progress achieved in recent years in the biomedical field justifies the objective evaluation of new techniques and materials obtained by using silver in different forms as metallic silver, silver salts, and nanoparticles. Thus, the antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity of silver nanoparticles confers to newly obtained materials characteristics that make them ideal candidates in a wide spectrum of applications. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose is routinely used for the controlled release of medicine thanks to its slow dissolution in water and could be used as a matrix for the controlled release of silver nanoparticles, if a method to produce such a material without the need of other reactants was developed. We proposed such a method in a photochemical reduction of AgNO₃ in hydroxypropyl methylcellulose solutions by the illumination of the mixture with the UV irradiation.