Antibacterial Biodegradable Polymer-Nanocomposite

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Natural biodegradable polymers with tailor-made properties offer excellent opportunities for advanced functional materials, e.g., biodegradable conductive nanocomposites based on polypyrrole (Ppy)/dextrin or PANI/dextrin provide enhanced conductive and antibacterial activities. 

The incorporation of Ag-NP into biodegradable polymers for their potential applications in biotechnology has been a great interest topic in the last years (Huang et al. 2004 Narayanan and El-Sayed 2005 Mumgadoss and Chattopadhyay 2008 Sanpui et al. 2008 Rhim et al. 2013 Cheviron et al. 2014). The carbohydrates can act as a reducing and/or stabilizer agent, and also have the possibility to carry Ag-NP with excellent antibacterial activity. The formed nanocomposites result safe, biocompatible, nontoxic, and environmentally friendly (Rhim et al. 2013). 

The polypyrrole (Ppy)/dextrin nanocomposite is synthesised via in situ polymerisation and the preparation of this nanocomposite is shown in Figure 5.4. The backbone chain of this nanocomposite polymer contains hydrophobic side chains, which disrupt the microbial cell membrane leading to leakage of the cytoplasm in bacteria including Escherichia coli. Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. This material can be implemented in the fields of biomedicine, biosensors and food packaging due to the biodegradable property of dextrin as well as the antibacterial properties of the Ppy [79]. 

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