Biomedical applications of carrageenan hydrogel impregnated with zinc oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

Nanotechnology involving biopolymers is comprehensively used in biomedical applications, planning sciences, and food development. The present work describes the synthesis, characterization, and application of carrageenan and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) based hydrogel. The synthesized hydrogels were subsequently characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TG-DTA. The swelling property, antioxidant activity, and whole blood clotting effectiveness of the Carrageenan hydrogel, and Carrageenan Hydrogels Impregnated with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles were evaluated. The Carrageenan + ZnONPs (C/ZnONPs) hydrogels showed good antioxidant, and blood clotting activity than the pure carrageenan hydrogel. In addition, the stable C/ZnONPs hydrogels exhibit good antimicrobial activities against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains. Biofilm analysis showed that C/ZnONPs hydrogels have excellent anti-biofilm potential in both inhibition and disruption of preformed biofilm. The obtained results suggested that the carrageenan and Zinc oxide nanoparticles based hydrogel have promising biological applications.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• C/ZnONPs
• hydrogel
• antibacterial
• antibiofilm
• wound dressing

Acknowledgements

The aurhors acknowledge authorities of Annamalai University for providing necessary facilities.

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest between the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a research grant from Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), National Centre for Coastal Research, Government of India (Project File No.MoES/ICMAM-PD/ME/CAS-MB/53/2017)