Abstract

Hydrogel silver nanocomposites have shown immense potential in many biomedical applications, specifically wound healing. The combination of bi-metallic (Ag, Au) hydrogel nanocomposites are developed to enhance their antimicrobial activity. This paper presents the fabrication of bi-metallic nanocomposites obtained from the synthesis of acrylamide (AM) and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) based hydrogels for antimicrobial applications. The nanocomposite formation was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal analysis (TGA/DSC), as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The bi-metallic nanocomposite hydrogel has shown significant antibacterial activity on bacillus. Therefore, these bi-metallic antibacterial materials are promising candidates for a wide range of biomedical applications. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012