Hyaluronic acid-PVA loaded with Ag3(PO4)/Sm2O3/CNT by film casting technique: morphology, mechanical, thermal stability, swelling, antibacterial, and cell viability

Abstract

The healing of wounds is still a difficult clinical issue, and effective wound management is necessary to promote wound healing. Fabrication of highly developed dressings for wounds exhibiting biologically active properties and possessing favorable mechanical characteristics to accelerate the period of healing to avoid sideways bacterial infection. Hyaluronic acid (HA) inserted with loaded metal oxides such as silver phosphate (Ag₃(PO₄)), CNT and samarium oxide (Sm₂O₃) by film casting technique. The prepared films were examined by XRD, SEM, FTIR, and TGA. The surface topography showed a rough surface with low porosity for pure HA, while the addition of nanoparticles caused an incredible increase in the roughness with pores in diameter of 4–15 µm. The smooth surface appeared due to the addition of carbon nanotubes (CNT) and the mixing of the HA with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The contact angle was determined with water drops to determine the wettability of the prepared films, and it showed different changes varying between 67.72° for pure HA and then increased to 73.33° with the addition of Ag₃(PO₄), while the addition of Sm₂O₃ reduced the angle to 54.76° and 46.59° with mixing the ratios of nanoparticles. On the other hand, the Ag₃(PO₄)/Sm₂O₃/CNT@PVA/HA film represented a slight increase in the angle to 53.77° which has a hydrophilic tendency. The antibacterial test was done, and it was shown that the inhibition zone reached 20.5 ± 1.5 and 17.5 ± 1.5 against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively, for Ag₃(PO₄)@HA. The generated data display that the biological behavior of the mentioned nanocomposites (NCs) is promising.