Development and Characterization of Nanoparticles-Loaded Bio-composites for Biomedical Settings
Authors: Hernandez-Vargas Gustavo , Parra-Saldivar Roberto , Iqbal Hafiz M.N. 
Published: December 2020

There is a dire need to engineer biologically robust constructs to meet the growing needs of 21st-century medical sector. The increasing (re)-emergence of human-health related pathogenic microbes has caused a havoc and serious challenge to health care services. In this context, herein, we report the development and characterization of various polymeric bio-composites with unique structural and functional attributes. For a said purpose, chitosan and graphene were used to engineer bio-composites, which were then functionalized by loading silver and platinum nanoparticles. A microwave-assisted approach was adopted to construct silver and platinum nanoparticles loaded graphene-based bio-composites. While, “one-pot” synthesis approach was used to engineer silver and platinum nanoparticles loaded chitosan-based bio-composites. As developed bio-composites were designated as GO-Ag-S1 to GO-Ag-S5 (silver nanoparticles loaded graphene-based bio-composites), GO-Pt-P1 to GO-Pt-P5 (platinum nanoparticles loaded graphene-based bio-composites), CHI-Ag-S1 to CHI-Ag-S5 (silver nanoparticles loaded chitosan-based bio-composites), and CHI-Pt-P1 to CHI-Pt-P5 (platinum nanoparticles loaded chitosan-based bio-composites). Finally, the nanoparticles loaded bio-composites of graphene and chitosan were subjected to characterization via UV-Visible spectrophotometric analysis, percent loading efficiency (%LE) analysis, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, mechanical measurements, and antibacterial attributes. The UV-Visible spectrophotometric analysis revealed characteristic peaks appeared at the λmax 420 nm and 266 nm which belongs to the silver and platinum nanoparticles, respectively. The graphene-based bio-composites, i.e., GO-Ag-S3, GO-Ag-S4, and GO-Pt-P3 showed optimal %LE of 88, 92, and 89%, respectively. Whereas, CHI-Ag-S4, CHI-Pt-P3, and CHI-Pt-P4 bio-composites showed optimal %LE of 94, 86, and 94%, respectively. Two regions, i.e., (1) between 3600-3100 cm-1, and (2) between 1,800 and 1,000 cm-1 in the FTIR spectra were found of particular interest. The FTIR profile exposed the available functional moieties at the surface of respective bio-composites. Variable mechanical attributes of silver and platinum nanoparticles loaded bio-composites were recorded from the stress-strain curves. All developed bio-composites showed bactericidal activities up to certain extent against both test strains. As compared to the initial bacterial cell count (control value, i.e., 1.5 × 108 CFU/mL), the bio-composites with higher %LE showed almost complete inhibition, with a log reduction from 5 to 0, and bactericidal activities up to certain extent against both test strains, i.e., Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), and Escherichia coli (E. coli). In conclusion, the notable structural, functional, mechanical and antimicrobial attributes suggest the biomedical potentialities of newly in-house engineered silver and platinum nanoparticles loaded graphene and chitosan-based bio-composites.