Fast pulsed electrodeposition of silver nanoparticles on polypyrrole thin films for antibacterial and biomedical applications

This research paper presents a fast method for the double pulse electrodeposition of silver nanoparticles on a thin polypyrrole film with a thickness of about 4 µm, aiming to improve its electrical conductivity and antibacterial activity for biomedical applications. The electrodeposition and the electrochemical behavior of the deposits was studied using chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. SEM and XRD were used to characterize the morphological and microstructural characteristics of the deposits. The antibacterial performances of the deposits were tested against E.coli and S.aureus bacteria. It was found that the AgNO3 concentration of 10−2 M and/or the duration of the two pulses (1 s and 10 s) led to the deposition of micrometric or submicrometric Ag particles inhomogeneous in size and distribution on the PPy surface. The lower AgNO3 concentration (10−3 M) and the shorter pulse durations (0.1 s and 1 s) resulted in nanometric Ag particles with the most homogeneous size and distribution on the PPy surface. Furthermore, the Ag nanoparticles on PPy surface showed the highest electrical conductivity and the strongest killing efficiency of the two types of bacteria (100% against E.coli and 99.99% against S.aureus).