Silver(I) Coordination Polymers Immobilized into Biopolymer Films for Antimicrobial Applications

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 13; no. 11; pp. 12836 - 12844
• Main Authors: Fernandes, Tiago A, Costa, Inês F. M, Jorge, Paula, Sousa, Ana Catarina, André, Vânia, Cerca, Nuno, Kirillov, Alexander M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 24.03.2021
• Subjects: Antibacterial activity; Biofilms; Biological and Medical Applications of Materials and Interfaces; Biopolymers; Crystal structures; Hybrid materials; Silver; antibacterial activity; metal−organic frameworks; hybrid materials; silver; biopolymers; crystal structures; biofilms
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c19446

This study describes a template-mediated self-assembly synthesis, full characterization, and structural features of two new silver-based bioactive coordination polymers (CPs) and their immobilization into acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (ESOA) biopolymer films for antimicrobial applications. The 3D silver­(I) CPs [Ag4(μ8-H2pma)2] n ·4nH2O (1) and [Ag5(μ6-H0.5tma)2(H2O)4] n ·2nH2O (2) were generated from AgNO3 and pyromellitic (H4pma) or trimesic (H3tma) acid, also using N,N′-dimethylethanolamine (Hdmea) as a template. Both 1 and 2 feature the intricate 3D layer-pillared structures driven by distinct polycarboxylate blocks. Topological analysis revealed binodal nets with the flu and tcj/hc topology in 1 and 2, respectively. These CPs were used for fabricating new hybrid materials, namely, by doping the [ESOA] n biopolymer films with very low amounts of 1 and 2 (0.05, 0.1, and 0.5%). Their antimicrobial activity and ability to impair bacterial biofilm formation were investigated in detail against both Gram-positive (Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) bacteria. Both silver­(I) CPs and derived biopolymer films showed activity against all the tested bacteria in a concentration-dependent manner. Compound 1 exhibited a more pronounced activity, especially in preventing biofilm growth, with mean bacterial load reductions ranging from 3.7 to 4.3 log against the four bacteria (99.99% bacterial eradication). The present work thus opens up antibiofilm applications of CP-doped biopolymers, providing new perspectives and very promising results for the design of functional biomaterials.