Development of SA/PEG with Ag/ZnO Nanoparticles Hydrogel Membrane for Wound Dressing

Abstract

The present study was focused on the fabrication and characterization of polymeric wound dressings, composed of sodium alginate and Polyethylene glycol. Calcium chloride was added to the polymeric solution for cross-linking. Silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles were incorporated into the formulated hydrogel as an antibacterial agent. The hydrogels were synthesized via the solution casting and tested against different characterization techniques i.e. XRD, SEM, FTIR, and TGA. The XRD pattern of Sodium alginate and polyethylene glycol hydrogel denoted by SAPEG observed peaks 9.8°, 19.4°,23.1°, and 26.5° were related to the face-centered structure of sodium alginate and PEG hydrogel. The SEM results showed the phase separation between SA and PEG membranes. Furthermore, nanoparticles were also homogeneously dispersed in the hydrogel. The mass loss of pristine SAPEG hydrogel membrane is 100% at 31°C. However, the mass loss is 15.5% at 743°C. The maximum tensile strength was 30.8 MPa for SAPEG/0.01Ag/0.02ZnO hydrogel membrane. The effective results of cytotoxicity were of hydrogel membrane SAPEG/0.01Ag/0.02ZnO. The contact angle was reduced after the incorporation of nanoparticles from 27.5° to 15.6°. The antibacterial activity was investigated against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The maximum zone of inhibition was 15 ± 0.67 achieved against E.coli for SA/PEG/0.03ZnO. The maximum zone of inhibition was 27.25 mm achieved against S.Aureus for SA/PEG/0.01Ag/0.02ZnO. The formulated hydrogel membranes have demonstrated the capability to be used as a wound dressing.