Sustainable biopolymer coupled silver nanoparticles synthesis, characterization and their efficacy in wound healing

Abstract Silver is traditionally known for its antimicrobial activity, especially in the treatment of topical wound infections. However, its application in wound infection is limited because of its toxicity to cells. Thus, it is essential to develop an effective biocompatible method to minimize the toxicity of silver and promote wound healing activity. In this study, chitosan-coupled silver nanoparticles were synthesized in a sustainable manner, and their physicochemical characterization revealed that the synthesized nanoparticles were 14–30 nm nearly spherical in shape with a positive surface charge. The functional group and crystalline nature of nanoparticles were confirmed by FT-IR and XRD studies. Subsequently, nanoparticles showed potent efficiency against clinical pathogens S. aureus and E. coli . Furthermore, cytotoxicity and a wound healing assay against HEK 293 and L292 cells revealed the nontoxic nature of nanoparticles to mammalian cells and also that nanoparticles have the efficacy to heal wounds efficiently. Overall, the current study emphasizes that simple routed Ch-AgNPs could be used in the management of topical wound infections whereby these nanoparticles not only inhibit the growth of infectious pathogens but also promote the proliferation of the cells to the wound area.