Abstract
•Schizophyllan (SPG) triple helical biopolymer was used for first for preparation of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs).•SPG used as reducing and stabilizing agent for Ag-NPs.•SPG/silver nanocomposite was characterized by TEM, DLS, UV–vis spectra, FTIR, TGA, and XRD.•Mouse fibroblast cell line (NIH-3T3) and human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) were systematically evaluated the cytotoxicity of nanocomposite SPG/Ag-NPs.
Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) have been successfully prepared with a simple and “green” chemical reduction method. Triple helical schizophyllan (SPG) was used for the first time as reducing and stabilizing agents. The effect of temperature, silver nitrate/schizophyllan concentrations, pH of the reactions medium and the reaction time were investigated. The obtained schizophyllan/Ag-NP was characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, TEM, DLS, X-ray diffraction, TGA, and ATR-FTIR. The results revealed that, Ag-NPs attached to SPG through a strong non-covalent interaction, leading to good dispersion of Ag-NPs with a diameter of 6nm within the biopolymer matrix. By increasing the pH of the reaction medium, the triple helical structure of SPG was partially broken. The SPG/AgNP nanocomposite was non-toxic for mouse fibroblast line (NIH-3T3) and human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT).