Polymer-directed assembly of water-soluble realgar nanocomposites for antimicrobial applications

Abstract

The poor water-solubility of realgar unfortunately results in poor bioavailability and hampers its medicinal application. In this work, water-soluble realgar nanoparticles (As₄S₄ NPs) were synthesized in aqueous solution and characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Furthermore, a polymer directed assembly method was used to prepare for the As₄S₄ nanocomposites with beneficial bioavailability for antimicrobial applications. It is found that the polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) has a significant effect on formation and growth of quasi-spherical As₄S₄-PVP nanocomposite with a narrow size distribution of (65±5) nm. In the case of using carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), the dendritic As₄S₄-CMC nanocomposite was obtained with particle size of (120±25) nm in predominant length. The FTIR spectra studies demonstrated the interaction between the polymers and the assembled As₄S₄. The antimicrobial assays indicated that the stabilized As₄S₄-polymer nanocomposites showed superior antimicrobial activity against uncoated As₄S₄ NPs both on gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli. The TEM images of bacterial ultrathin sections showed the damage and disorganization of cell wall, suggesting the membrane-associated antimicrobial activity of As₄S₄-PVP nanocomposite.

Keywords

realgar / nanocomposite / antimicrobial activity / polymer / water-soluble

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Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg