Biocompatible polymers as a tool for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles: size tuning and in vitro cytotoxicity studies

Silver nanoparticles have attracted great attention in the biomedical research field, especially in cancer theranostics. In this study, we developed a synthesis method for silver nanoparticles in the solid state using high-speed vibration milling, in which biocompatible polymers such as poly(vinylpyrrolidone), poly(ethylene glycol) and chitosan were used for the reduction of the silver salt. The synthesis of the size-tunable silver nanoparticleswasperformedat roomtemperature andno surfactants to direct the anisotropic growth of the nanoparticleswere required. The formation of the nanoparticleswas studied using UV-visible and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as well as transmission electron microscopy. The synthesized nanoparticles showed an average diameter ranging from 3.1 +/- 1.4 to 22.8 +/- 5.8 nm. In addition, the anticancer activity of these silver nanoparticles was assessed using cytotoxicity studies with human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), human lung adenocarcinoma (NCI-H358) and mouse embryonic fibroblast (NIH-3T3) cell lines. Accordingly, an effective suppression of the proliferation of cell growth was found.