Fast and long-acting antibacterial properties of chitosan-Ag/polyvinylpyrrolidone nanocomposite films

Infection associated with medical devices is one of the most frequent complications of modern medical biomaterials. Preparation of antibacterial films on the medical devices is a great challenge owing to bactericidal efficiency, long acting and biocompatibility. In this study, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) doped chitosan/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) films were successfully prepared by dip coating method. The nanocomposite films with spherical Ag NPs (diameters in 10-50 nm) were stable after being immersed in PBS for 35 days. Through regulating the concentration of AgNO3, the nanocomposite films showed good cell compatibility. The nanocomposite films could eliminate 100% Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538) and Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739) in 5 min and had favorable long-acting antibacterial property. The increase of PVP amount obviously enhanced anti-adhesion activity of the nanocomposite film. Such nanocomposite films can be expected to have good potential in biomaterials applications. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.