Fabrication of silver-decorated popcorn-like polymeric nanoparticles for enhanced antibacterial activity

With the mounting prevalence of microbial contamination caused by multidrug-resistant microorganisms, the innovative and efficient antibacterial materials will play an increasingly significant part in addressing bacterial pathogens from microbial pollution in the future. In this study, the popcorn-like polymeric nanoparticles (PPNPs) with large amounts of carboxyl groups were first obtained from the crosslinking and the regeneration of polyglycidyl methacrylate (PGMA) utilizing styrene (St) and methacrylic acid (MAA). In addition, synthesized ammoniated PPNPs (A-PPNPs) using the obtained PPNPs and 1,6-hexanediamine (HAD). Also, the acquired PPNPs and A-PPNPs were used as the precursors to achieve silver-decorated PPNPs and A-PPNPs (Ag@PPNPs and Ag@A-PPNPs) respectively by in-situ growth of Ag nanoparticles (nano-Ag) on the multi-convex surface of PPNPs and A-PPNPs based on the electrostatic attraction and coordination. Then, the antibacterial activities of PPNPs, A-PPNPs and Ag@A-PPNPs were evaluated against the typical Escherichia coli (E.coli, gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus, gram-positive). The results showed that the Ag@A-PPNPs had a significantly better ability to suppress the bacterial growth compared to that of its counterparts, as well as the higher loading capacity for small-size nano-Ag. In short, Ag@A-PPNPs has a promising application in bacteriainduced infections and contamination.