Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles impregnated bacterial cellulose-alginate composite film with improved properties

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has attracted more and more attentions as a biomedical material. However, pure BC possesses a poor mechanical strength in a wet state, a weak water swelling ability after drying as well as no antibacterial activity. To resolve this, a kind of novel silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) impregnated bacterial cellulose/calcium alginate (BC/CA) composite film was fabricated for the first time using a new form of BC/CA double-network (DN) film as the template to in situ synthesize AgNPs by a facile method, UV irradiation. This composite realized obvious improvements in both the mechanical property (fracture strength and fracture strain) and the water swelling ability, with values of 2.97, 1.41 and 4.08 times, respectively, those of pure BC, as well as a high and prolonged antibacterial effect for more than 48 h. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.