Effect of Chitosan and Alginate Concentration on Size and Bactericidal Activity against Escherichia coli of Chitosan/Alginate/Silver Nanoparticle Beads

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles have been used in combination with biological polymer for antibacterial application. This study prepared chitosan/alginate/AgNP beads with varying chitosan and alginate concentration to use as an antibacterial material. The sizes of neat beads were larger (1286 ± 172, 1344 ± 142 and 1529 ± 73 μm for C1, C2 and C3, respectively) with increasing concentration of chitosan and alginate. Moreover, smaller beads were observed for the chitosan/alginate/AgNP beads, in which their sizes were 1151 ± 201, 1261 ± 204 and 1324 ± 198 µm for S1, S2 and S3, respectively, when compared to the chitosan/alginate beads. Furthermore, the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of chitosan/alginate/AgNP beads against E . coli was 10, 10 and 3 µg/ml for S1, S2 and S3, respectively. This study suggested that the beads with the higher concentration of chitosan and alginate resulted in the greater bactericidal activity. Therefore, the chitosan/alginate/AgNP beads prepared in this study showed the bactericidal activity which can be used for antibacterial application.