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Development of novel chitin/nanosilver composite scaffolds for wound dressing applications

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Abstract

Antibiotic resistance of microorganisms is one of the major problems faced in the field of wound care and management resulting in complications like infection and delayed wound healing. Currently a lot of research is focused on developing newer antimicrobials to treat wounds infected with antibiotic resistant microorganisms. Silver has been used as an antimicrobial agent for a long time in the form of metallic silver and silver sulfadiazine ointments. Recently silver nanoparticles have come up as a potent antimicrobial agent and are finding diverse medical applications ranging from silver based dressings to silver coated medical devices. Chitin is a natural biopolymer with properties like biocompatibility and biodegradability. It is widely used as a scaffold for tissue engineering applications. In this work, we developed and characterized novel chitin/nanosilver composite scaffolds for wound healing applications. The antibacterial, blood clotting and cytotoxicity of the prepared composite scaffolds were also studied. These chitin/nanosilver composite scaffolds were found to be bactericidal against S. aureus and E. coli and good blood clotting ability. These results suggested that these chitin/nanosilver composite scaffolds could be used for wound healing applications.

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Acknowledgments

One of the authors R. Jayakumar is grateful to SERC Division, Department of Science and Technology (DST), India, for providing the fund under the scheme of “Fast Track Scheme for Young Investigators” (Ref. No. SR/FT/CS-005/2008). Dr. S. V. Nair also grateful to DST, India, which partially supported this work, under a center grant of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative program monitored by Dr. C. N. R. Rao. The authors are also thankful to Mr. Sajin. P. Ravi for his help in SEM studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Amrita Centre for Nanosciences, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Kochi, 682 026, India

    K. Madhumathi, P. T. Sudheesh Kumar, S. Abhilash, V. Sreeja, K. Manzoor, S. V. Nair & R. Jayakumar

  2. Faculty of Chemistry, Materials and Bioengineering and High Technology Research Centre, Kansai University, Osaka, 564-8680, Japan

    H. Tamura

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  1. K. Madhumathi
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  2. P. T. Sudheesh Kumar
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  3. S. Abhilash
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  4. V. Sreeja
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Correspondence to R. Jayakumar.

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Madhumathi, K., Sudheesh Kumar, P.T., Abhilash, S. et al. Development of novel chitin/nanosilver composite scaffolds for wound dressing applications. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 21, 807–813 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-009-3877-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-009-3877-z

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