Biocompatible polymers as a tool for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles: size tuning and <i>in vitro</i> cytotoxicity studies

Abstract

Abstract Silver nanoparticles have attracted great attention in the biomedical research field, especially in cancer theranostics. In this study, we developed a synthesis method for silver nanoparticles in the solid state using high‐speed vibration milling, in which biocompatible polymers such as poly(vinylpyrrolidone), poly(ethylene glycol) and chitosan were used for the reduction of the silver salt. The synthesis of the size‐tunable silver nanoparticles was performed at room temperature and no surfactants to direct the anisotropic growth of the nanoparticles were required. The formation of the nanoparticles was studied using UV ‐visible and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as well as transmission electron microscopy. The synthesized nanoparticles showed an average diameter ranging from 3.1 ± 1.4 to 22.8 ± 5.8 nm. In addition, the anticancer activity of these silver nanoparticles was assessed using cytotoxicity studies with human breast adenocarcinoma ( MCF ‐7), human lung adenocarcinoma ( NCI‐H358 ) and mouse embryonic fibroblast ( NIH‐3T3 ) cell lines. Accordingly, an effective suppression of the proliferation of cell growth was found. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry