Pouri Hossein, Langlois Sophie, Lu Chao, Rodríguez Andrés, Herrera Jose, Zhang Jin
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada.
School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada.
ACS Omega. 2025 Jun 2;10(23):24252-24262. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c11420. eCollection 2025 Jun 17.
Surface treatment of silicone hydrogels is essential for achieving suitable mechanical properties and high antimicrobial effectiveness. Incorporating biocompatible nanostructures into a silicone hydrogel can improve its mechanical strength and hydrophilicity. However, few studies have focused on directly depositing hybrid nanostructures onto a silicone hydrogel to enhance both its antimicrobial effectiveness and mechanical properties. Additionally, the impact of environmental conditions, such as hydration and physiological temperature, on the mechanical behavior of the nanostructure-deposited silicone hydrogel remains unclear. Herein, matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm has been applied to directly deposit silver/,,-trimethyl chitosan nanoparticles (Ag/TMC NPs) on the surface of silicone hydrogels. The effect of MAPLE irradiation time () on the deposition of organic-inorganic hybrid nanostructures on the silicone hydrogel has been studied. The Young's modulus of silicone hydrogel deposited with Ag/TMC NPs increased from 76 to 139.38 kPa when increases from 0 to 120 min. Meanwhile, the mechanical behavior of the silicone hydrogel deposited with Ag/TMC NPs was evaluated at different swelling states and environmental conditions, showing that the mechanical strength of the hydrogel strongly depends on hydration and temperature. On the other hand, the antimicrobial efficiency of silicone hydrogel deposited with Ag/TMC NPs against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) increased by approximately 83.8 and 114.7%, respectively, when increases from 0 to 120 min. In addition, NIH3T3 cells treated with a silicone hydrogel with/without the deposition of hybrid nanostructures were analyzed, indicating that the deposited nanostructures do not exhibit toxic effects on cells. Overall, this study demonstrates the versatility of MAPLE as a technique for depositing hybrid nanostructures onto silicone hydrogels to achieve improved mechanical and antimicrobial properties.
硅水凝胶的表面处理对于获得合适的机械性能和高抗菌效果至关重要。将生物相容性纳米结构引入硅水凝胶中可以提高其机械强度和亲水性。然而，很少有研究专注于直接在硅水凝胶上沉积混合纳米结构以增强其抗菌效果和机械性能。此外，环境条件（如水合作用和生理温度）对沉积有纳米结构的硅水凝胶力学行为的影响仍不清楚。在此，已应用532 nm脉冲Nd:YAG激光的基质辅助脉冲激光蒸发（MAPLE）技术直接在硅水凝胶表面沉积银/壳聚糖三甲基铵纳米颗粒（Ag/TMC NPs）。研究了MAPLE辐照时间（）对有机-无机混合纳米结构在硅水凝胶上沉积的影响。当从0增加到120分钟时，沉积有Ag/TMC NPs的硅水凝胶的杨氏模量从76增加到139.38 kPa。同时，在不同的溶胀状态和环境条件下评估了沉积有Ag/TMC NPs的硅水凝胶的力学行为，结果表明水凝胶的机械强度强烈依赖于水合作用和温度。另一方面，当从0增加到120分钟时，沉积有Ag/TMC NPs的硅水凝胶对大肠杆菌（E. coli）和金黄色葡萄球菌（S. aureus）的抗菌效率分别提高了约83.8%和114.7%。此外，对用有/无混合纳米结构沉积的硅水凝胶处理的NIH3T3细胞进行了分析，表明沉积的纳米结构对细胞没有毒性作用。总体而言，本研究证明了MAPLE作为一种在硅水凝胶上沉积混合纳米结构以实现改善的机械和抗菌性能的技术的多功能性。
