Antibacterial carrageenan/cellulose nanocrystal system loaded with silver nanoparticles, prepared via solid-state technique

A new carrageenan (CAR) cryogel system in investigated with high potential of use in wound care field. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) is used for providing mechanical strength to the cryogel system. The as prepared cryogels were loaded with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to acquire antimicrobial activity. The incorporation of CNC and crosslinking with EPH lead to the formation of porous structures, improved the swelling (up to 35 %) and increased the mechanical compression strength from 0.1 MPa to 0.6 MPa at (50 % strain). The release profile for all evaluated samples suggests that current cryogel system offers controlled and sustained release (less than 40 ppm of AgNPs within 250 min). Upon further investigation using CFU method, CAR loaded with AgNPs exhibited 100 % reduction for S. aureus and E. coli. The obtained results suggest that the investigated cryogel attain reasonable potential as an antibacterial wound dressing material.