Chitosan cryogel microspheres decorated with silver nanoparticles as injectable and antimicrobial scaffolds

Abstract

In this study, an in-situ chemical reduction approach was used to immobilize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on injectable chitosan cryogel microspheres. The surface morphology and the effect of AgNPs’ amount on the structure of microspheres were demonstrated. Activities of the biomaterials in biological assays of antioxidant, DNA cleavage and antimicrobial were investigated. Scaffolds including the highest ratio of AgNPs showed the highest DPPH scavenging activity and displayed excellent antimicrobial activities against seven strains. AgNPs-coated chitosan microspheres demonstrated DNA cleavage activities. AgNPs-coated chitosan cryogel microspheres are proposed as potentially favorable antimicrobial biomaterials for biomedical applications such as tissue engineering.