In the present study, chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were blended with different concentrations of sodium montmorillonite (Na+MMT) clay solution by a solvent casting method. X-ray diffraction and transition electron microscope results show that the film properties are related to the co-existence of Na+MMT intercalation/exfoliation in the blend and the interaction between chitosan–PVA and Na+MMT. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) was loaded with chitosan–PVA/Na+MMT nanocomposite films for in vitro drug delivery study. The antimicrobial activity of the chitosan–PVA/Na+MMT films showed significant effect against Salmonella (Gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive), whereas 5-FU encapsulated chitosan–PVA/Na+MMT bio-nanocomposite films did not show any inhibition against bacteria. Our results indicate that combination of a flexible and soft polymeric material with high drug loading ability of a hard inorganic porous material can produce improved control over degradation and drug release. It will be an economically viable method for preparation of advanced drug delivery vehicles and biodegradable implants or scaffolds.

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In the present work, polymer hydrogels have been used as the drug carrier for delivery systems of anticancer drugs. This investigation involves the formation of alginate hydrogels by a combination of three different monomers. The sodium alginate (SA) hydrogels were developed by free-radical polymerization of selective water-soluble monomers such as acrylamide (Am), methacrylamide (MAm), N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm), and water-soluble polysaccharide (SA). The structural and morphological characterizations of the developed hydrogels were obtained from FTIR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy studies. Then, the hydrogels developed were encapsulated with a model cancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and hydrogels containing 5-FU drug were evaluated for in vitro release studies. The released profiles of the drug showed that between 95% and 34% the loaded drug was released in the first half-an-hour at a buffer solution of 7.4 and the rest of the drug was released slowly. The results suggest that poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-sodium alginate) P(NIPAAm-SA) hydrogels show better properties than such as P(Am-SA) and P(MAm-SA). The drug release kinetic parameters suggested that the Am and MAm hydrogel networks are anomalous in nature, and the diffusion type of NIPAAM systems shows a slightly Fickian phenomenon. P(Am-SA), P(MAm-SA), and P(NIPAAm-SA) hydrogel formulations showed up to 97.13%, 95.53%, and 98. 36% cumulative release in 24 h, respectively. C

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In this investigation, an ecofriendly method for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using biodegradable gelatin as a stabilizing agent is reported. Here, we prepared thermosensitive silver nanocomposite hydrogels composed of gelatin and N-isopropylacrylamide. In this green process AgNPs were formed from Ag(+) ions and reduced with leaf [Azadirachta indica (neem leaf)] extracts, resulting in a hydrogel network. The Ag(0) nanoparticles affect the hydrogel strength and improved the biological activity (inactivation effect of bacteria) of the biodegradable hydrogels. The resulted hydrogel structure, morphology, thermal, swelling behavior, degradation, and antibacterial properties were systematically investigated. The biodegradable thermosensitive silver nanocomposite hydrogels developed were tested for antibacterial activities. The results indicate that these biodegradable silver nanocomposite hydrogels are suitable potential candidates for antibacterial applications.