Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of collagen scaffolds crosslinked with aminosilane functionalized silver nanoparticles: in vitro and in vivo studies

This work presents a novel approach for functionalization of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and crosslinking them with collagen to form collagen based scaffolds with enhanced medical applications. Functionalized AgNPs of size 10-50 nm were synthesized and confirmed by using UV-vis, fluorescence spectroscopy and particle size analysis. Stable nano-sized particles were functionalized and cross-linked with succinylated collagen (SC) and lyophilized to form functionalized silver nanoparticles cross-linked with succinylated collagen (FSCSC) scaffolds. The prepared scaffolds, viz., SC and FSCSC, were characterized using the following techniques: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, circular dichroism, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The thermal analyses results suggest that FSCSC scaffolds are more stable than collagen and SC scaffolds. Moreover, FSCSC scaffolds show improved tensile strength, which is essential for wound healing purposes. The FSCSC showed lower minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values compared to AgNPs impregnated in the SC scaffold for both gram positive and negative bacterial strains, which indicated that FSCSC have improved antibacterial efficacy compared to the latter and can be utilized for biomedical applications. Furthermore, the in vitro and in vivo studies suggest that the FSCSC scaffold can be used as a wound dressing material for clinical applications.