Abstract Scope |
The design of new polymeric systems for antimicrobial drug release focused on medical/surgical procedures is of great interest due to the high prevalence of bacterial infections in patients with wounds or burns. Therefore, the synthesis of new materials with specific intelligence has increased in the last few years. For this reason, in this work, we present a new design of pH-sensitive hydrogels copolymerized by a graft polymerization method, intended for localized prophylactic release of ciprofloxacin and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) for potential topical bacterial infections. The synthesized hydrogels were copolymerized from acrylic acid and agar. Cross-linked hydrogel film formation depended on monomer concentrations and the degree of radiation used. The obtained hydrogel films were characterized by ATR-FTIR, TGA, DSC, mechanical testing and the pH sensitiveness evidenced the swelling of the hydrogels. Finally, the antimicrobial activity of biocidal-loaded hydrogel was tested against Escherichia coli and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on in vitro conditions. |