An evaluation of antibacterial properties and cytotoxicity of UV-curable biocompatible films containing hydroxyethyl cellulose and silver nanoparticles

The present study aimed to develop biocompatible film materials with antibacterial and anticancer properties that can be cured with UV rays depending on the thiol-en click reaction mechanism. The synthesized m-Ag NPs were added to formulations containing acrylate functionality HEC, pentaerythritol tetrarkis(3-mercaptopropionate), and photoinitiator at different rates (0, 20, 40, and 60 parts per hundred (phr)). The antibacterial activity of the films was evaluated against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli by the disk diffusion test. The antibacterial effect of the films did not form an inhibition zone for the control formulation (Cm-Ag0 ) against bacteria whereas the antibacterial property increased as the Ag NPs content increased in formulations containing m-Ag NPs. The strongest resistance film against the three bacterial species was observed in the Cm-Ag60 formulation with 60 phr silver content, and the inhibition zones for S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and E. coli were measured as 16.5 ± 0.7, 16.5 ± 2.1, and 16 ± 1.4, respectively. The cytotoxicity of the films against healthy cells and breast cancer cell (MCF-7) lines was investigated with MTT, and it was observed that all films did not cause any inhibition in the structure of the living cell but killed the cells at a high rate in the MCF-7 line. It was mainly observed that the Cm-Ag60 formulation showed 95.576 % cell inhibition against MCF-7. According to these results, it has been predicted that the prepared films will play a vital role in the next generation of cancer treatments.