Investigation of swelling and antibacterial properties of carboxymethyl chitosan/Poly (vinyl alcohol) nanocomposite hydrogels containing CuO nanoparticles

The CsMe/PVA/CuO nanocomposite hydrogels have been introduced a new technique, which is dependent on pH. They were prepared successfully in-situ by forming of CuO nanoparticles within swollen CsMe/PVA hydrogels. The resulting hydrogels were examined by running various experimental procedures such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD and EDX patterns verified the formation of CuO nanoparticles in the hydrogel networks; moreover, the formation of CuO nanoparticles with size range from 13.89 to 47.78 nm within the hydrogel matrix was confirmed by SEM micrographs. The prepared nanocomposite hydrogels showed a pH-sensitive swelling behavior. The results showed that the prepared nanocomposite hydrogels outperformed the pure CsMe/PVA hydrogels in terms of swelling capacity in various pH values and salt solutions. The antibacterial activity of the nanocomposite hydrogels was examined and mechanisms involved in their synthesis were reported; the results showed an excellent antibacterial behavior of the nanocomposite hydrogels.