Analysis of the size reduction of AgNPs loaded hydrogel and its effect on the anti-bacterial activity.

This article analyses the effect of the size reduced Silver (Ag) loaded hydrogel by (a) lyophilisation (S1) (b) ball milling (S2) techniques and its effect on anti-bacterial activity. The g loaded hydrogel, S1 and S2 shows an increase in swelling with an increase in pH. The swelling is more for Ag loaded hydrogel in low pH. For pH above 7, the swelling ratio of Ag loaded hydrogel and S1 are almost the same while S2 shows very less swelling. The anti-bacterial studies reveal that S1 and Ag loaded hydrogel reacted well in S. aureus (Staphylococcus aureus) but no zone formation was seen in S2 .whereas no zone was formed in S1 and S2 for E-coli (Escherichia coli). As the next step, the anti-bacterial activity of Ag loaded hydrogel with the addition of curcumin (CS1-size reduced by lyophilisation, CS2-size reduced by ball milling) and turmeric (TS1-size reduced by lyophilisation, TS2-size reduced by ball milling) were investigated. In case of E.coli, a zonal formation of 1.2 cm for TS1 and 1.1 cm for TS2 and 1 cm for CS1 and 0.2 cm for CS2 was observed. For S.aureus, 1.1  and 1 cm were seen for TS1 and CS1. TS2 and CS2 did not show any zone formation. These studies clearly show that size reduction by lyophilisation (S1, TS1 and CS1) is more efficient in all the cases when compared to the ball milling technique (S2, TS2 and CS2). Comparing TS1 with S1 and CS1, TS1 has highly efficient/effective anti-bacterial properties than S1 and CS1. Therefore, lyophilised hydrogel incorporating turmeric and silver (TS1) is an excellent choice compared to using curcumin for wound dressing applications.