Synthesis of calcium, copper and iron alginate hydrogels doped with Ag nanoparticles produced by chemical reduction method

Calcium, copper and iron alginate hydrogels were synthesized at room temperature via using the internal gelation method from sodium alginate precursor. Also, Ag nanoparticles which were produced with chemical reduction method, were added to hydrogels with different ratios (1%, 5% and 10%) to examine the different ratio effect on hydrogel properties, especially for antibacterial behaviors. According to this experimental design, the dopant ratio efficiency of Ag nanoparticles and comparison of divalent crosslinking metal ions (Ca²⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe²⁺) on antibacterial properties of produced hydrogels were compared. SEM-EDS analyze was done to observe Ag nanoparticles. Both SEM and UV–Vis analyzes showed that particle size of produced Ag were ∼10 nm. The chemical structures of each hydrogel were observed with FTIR studies. After structural properties of hydrogels and Ag nanoparticles examinations, antibacterial behaviors were observed with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus environments. The results showed that 10 wt% Nano-Ag doped copper alginate against Escherichia coli and 10 wt% Nano-Ag doped copper alginate against Staphylococcus aureus showed the highest antibacterial properties.