Silver(I) Coordination Polymers Immobilized into Biopolymer Films for Antimicrobial Applications.

This study describes a template-mediated self-assembly synthesis, full characterization, and structural features of two new silver-based bioactive coordination polymers (CPs) and their immobilization into acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (ESOA) biopolymer films for antimicrobial applications. The 3D silver(I) CPs [Ag(μ-Hpma)]·4HO () and [Ag(μ-Htma)(HO)]·2HO () were generated from AgNO and pyromellitic (Hpma) or trimesic (Htma) acid, also using ,'-dimethylethanolamine (Hdmea) as a template. Both and feature the intricate 3D layer-pillared structures driven by distinct polycarboxylate blocks. Topological analysis revealed binodal nets with the and /hc topology in and , respectively. These CPs were used for fabricating new hybrid materials, namely, by doping the [ESOA] biopolymer films with very low amounts of and (0.05, 0.1, and 0.5%). Their antimicrobial activity and ability to impair bacterial biofilm formation were investigated in detail against both Gram-positive ( and ) and Gram-negative ( and ) bacteria. Both silver(I) CPs and derived biopolymer films showed activity against all the tested bacteria in a concentration-dependent manner. Compound exhibited a more pronounced activity, especially in preventing biofilm growth, with mean bacterial load reductions ranging from 3.7 to 4.3 log against the four bacteria (99.99% bacterial eradication). The present work thus opens up antibiofilm applications of CP-doped biopolymers, providing new perspectives and very promising results for the design of functional biomaterials.