Development and Characterisation of Biodegradable Polymeric Composites Enhanced with Nanoparticles for Antimicrobial and Biomedical Applications

In this study, metallic nanoparticle polymeric PLA composites such as Silver (Ag)+PLA, Nickel (Ni)+PLA, Copper (Cu)+PLA, and Copper Oxide (CuO)+PLA were developed using injection moulding to study the antimicrobial efficacy of the developed polymeric composites against several Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic strains like <i>Enterococcus faecalis</i>, <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i>, <i>Salmonella Poona</i>, <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, and <i>Escherichia coli.</i> SEM and EDS were used to identify the surface morphology and elemental composition of Ni+PLA, Ag+PLA, Cu+PLA, and CuO+PLA composites, which showed specific metal dispersion and surface roughness, which have effects on antimicrobial activity. Thermal characteristics analysed by TGA and DSC showed an increase in thermal stability and crystallisation properties because of nanoparticle integration. All four composites demonstrated high efficacy against the tested bacterial strains, achieving an overall reduction of approximately 70% in all samples. A more substantial decrease of 98% was observed across all strains in each composite, except for a slightly lower efficacy of 97% in the Ni+PLA and Ag+PLA composites against <i>Enterococcus faecalis</i> and <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>. The potential for such antimicrobial materials and their characteristics make the current investigation particularly innovative for the medical field, and such antimicrobial materials would be extremely beneficial to reduce HAIs and drug-resistant organisms that otherwise complicate patient care and lower the efficiency and quality of health care provided.