Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles loaded into bacterial cellulose for antimicrobial application

Composite materials used in biomedical applications based on bacterial cellulose (BC) have attracted considerable scientific interest due to their specific and excellent properties. This work reports the fabrication of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) deposited on nanofibrillated BC (BC-AgNPs nanocomposite) for antimicrobial applications. BC, AgNPs, as well as BC-AgNPs nanocomposite formation were fully characterized using various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analyses, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectoscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Furthermore, the antimicrobial effects of produced BC-AgNP composites were evaluated on two pathogenic microorganisms, a gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and a gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) by determining their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) using an agar diffusion assay. The results show that the BC-AgNPs composite has good antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli but less against Staphylococcus aureus.