Application of polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan copolymer hydrogels in biomedicine: A review

Owing to its high biodegradability, and nontoxicity and antimicrobial properties, chitosan is widely-used as an antimicrobial agent either alone or blended with other natural polymers. To broaden chitosan's antimicrobial applicability, comprehensive knowledge of its activity is necessary. The paper reviews the current trend of investigation on antimicrobial activities of chitosan and its mode of action. Chitosan-mediated inhibition is affected by several factors can be classified into four types as intrinsic, environmental, microorganism and physical state, according to their respective roles. In this review, different physical states are comparatively discussed. Mode of antimicrobial action is discussed in parts of the active compound (chitosan) and the target (microorganisms) collectively and independently in same complex. Finally, the general antimicrobial applications of chitosan and perspectives about future studies in this field are considered. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Health and environmental impacts of graphene-based materials need to be thoroughly evaluated before their potential applications. Graphene has strong cytotoxicity toward bacteria. To better understand its antimicrobial mechanism, we compared the antibacterial activity of four types of graphene-based materials (graphite (Gt), graphite oxide (GtO), graphene oxide (GO), and reduced graphene oxide (rGO)) toward a bacterial model-Escherichia coli. Under similar concentration and incubation conditions, GO dispersion shows the highest antibacterial activity, sequentially followed by rGO, Gt, and GtO. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and dynamic light scattering analyses show that GO aggregates have the smallest average size among the four types of materials. SEM images display that the direct contacts with graphene nanosheets disrupt cell membrane. No superoxide anion (O(2)(•-)) induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is detected. However, the four types of materials can oxidize glutathione, which serves as redox state mediator in bacteria. Conductive rGO and Gt have higher oxidation capacities than insulating GO and GtO. Results suggest that antimicrobial actions are contributed by both membrane and oxidation stress. We propose that a three-step antimicrobial mechanism, previously used for carbon nanotubes, is applicable to graphene-based materials. It includes initial cell deposition on graphene-based materials, membrane stress caused by direct contact with sharp nanosheets, and the ensuing superoxide anion-independent oxidation. We envision that physicochemical properties of graphene-based materials, such as density of functional groups, size, and conductivity, can be precisely tailored to either reducing their health and environmental risks or increasing their application potentials. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Bacterial toxicity of graphene nanosheets in the form of graphene nanowalls deposited on stainless steel substrates was investigated for both gram-positive and gram-negative models of bacteria. The graphene oxide nanowalls were obtained by electrophoretic deposition of Mg(2+)-graphene oxide nanosheets synthesized by a chemical exfoliation method. On the basis of measuring the efflux of cytoplasmic materials of the bacteria, it was found that the cell membrane damage of the bacteria caused by direct contact of the bacteria with the extremely sharp edges of the nanowalls was the effective mechanism in the bacterial inactivation. In this regard, the gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria with an outer membrane were more resistant to the cell membrane damage caused by the nanowalls than the gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus lacking the outer membrane. Moreover, the graphene oxide nanowalls reduced by hydrazine were more toxic to the bacteria than the unreduced graphene oxide nanowalls. The better antibacterial activity of the reduced nanowalls was assigned to the better charge transfer between the bacteria and the more sharpened edges of the reduced nanowalls, during the contact interaction.