Synthesis and characterization of polysaccharide-maghemite composite nanoparticles and their antibacterial properties

Simona Liliana Iconaru (1) , Alina Mihaela Prodan (2, 3) , Mikael Motelica-Heino (4) , Stanislas Sizaret (4) , Daniel Predoi (1)

1 National Institute of Materials Physics
2 UMPCD - University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila” Bucharest
3 Emergency Hospital Floreasc
4 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans - UMR7327

The aim of this study was to obtain saccharide (dextran and sucrose)-coated maghemite nanoparticles with antibacterial activity. The polysaccharide-coated maghemite nanoparticles were synthesized by an adapted coprecipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies demonstrate that the obtained polysaccharide-coated maghemite nanoparticles can be indexed into the spinel cubic lattice with a lattice parameter of 8.35 Å. The refinement of XRD spectra indicated that no other phases except the maghemite are detectable. The characterization of the polysaccharide-coated maghemite nanoparticles by various techniques is described. The antibacterial activity of these polysaccharide-coated maghemite nanoparticles (NPs) was tested against Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1397, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Candida krusei 963, and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and was found to be dependent on the polysaccharide type. The antibacterial activity of dextran-coated maghemite was significantly higher than that of sucrose-coated maghemite. The antibacterial studies showed the potential of dextran-coated iron oxide NPs to be used in a wide range of medical infections.

Keywords: Iron oxides; Biological polymers; Antibacterial activity

Domains: Continental interfaces, environment; Global Changes

Simona Liliana Iconaru, Alina Mihaela Prodan, Mikael Motelica-Heino, Stanislas Sizaret, Daniel Predoi. Synthesis and characterization of polysaccharide-maghemite composite nanoparticles and their antibacterial properties. Nanoscale Research Letters, 2012, 7, pp.576 - 584. ⟨10.1186/1556-276X-7-576⟩. ⟨insu-00763549⟩