Properties of Bacterial Cellulose Composites with Silver Nanoparticles

Abstract

Composites of bacterial cellulose, which were synthesized in a culture of the strain of acetic acid bacteria Komagataeibacter xylinus VKPM B-12068, with silver nanoparticles were produced hydrothermally by varying the concentrations of AgNO₃ in the medium. The presence of silver in the composites was confirmed by elemental analysis. An increase in the number of silver nanoparticles in the composite from 1.08 to 9.1 wt % (from 0.044 to 0.370 mg/cm²) was shown under increasing AgNO₃ concentration in the medium from 0.0001 to 0.01 M. The structure, properties of the surface, and the physicochemical properties of the composites depending on the silver content were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and a water contact-angle measurement system. Using the disk-diffusion method, it was shown that the resulting composites have a pronounced antibacterial activity against pathogenic microflora E. coli, Ps. eruginosa, and St. aureus.