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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Acknowledgements

The work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20701010), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province (Grant No. 0728094), and the Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources, Guangxi Normal University, Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 07109001-10).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg