RESEARCH PLAN

Microwave-assisted Crosslinking of Biosynthesized AgNpPVA/PVP

As Antibacterial Wound Dressing

A. Rationale

The demand for immediate medical services evidently rises along with the increase in the
population. People all over the world, especially those living in third world countries, have
limited access and are not able to afford these said medical services. With that being said, the
researchers thought of a way on how to develop an alternative first aid material that is not only
efficient but also cost-efficient. With the help of AgNP’s promising properties such as
antibacterial and antiviral and the accessibility of Eichhornia crassipes in our local river, the
researchers saw potential in making an alternative first aid material affordable for everyone
especially for the poor.

B. Research Question(s)

• Is it possible to create a cost-efficient and less hazardous wound dressing that could be an
alternative for other commercially available medicine for wounds?

• Is it possible to produce an antibacterial wound dressing that is efficient and cost-efficient

at the same time with the use of the most terrible weed that is the water hyacinth?

• Is it possible to shorten the healing period of wounds with an antibacterial and non-toxic
wound dressing that is produced with the help of an antimicrobial hydrogel?

• Is it possible to reduce the population of water hyacinth that causes an imbalance in the
aquatic micro-ecosystem, oxygen depletion and fish kills in our local rivers and other
habitats of the said plant?

Hypothesis(es)
• Addition of silver nanoparticles and leaf extract of Eichhornia crassipes to the
microwave-irradiated hydrogel possess antibacterial activity against gram positive and
gram negative bacteria.

C. Methodology

Silver nitrate crystals, polyvinyl alcohol, and polyvinylpyrrolidone are of reagent grade
and will be used without further purification. Water hyacinth (E. crassipes) will be collected
from the East Bank Road in Marikina River and will be washed thoroughly using tap water. It
will then be air dried for the preparation of the leaf extract. 20g of dried leaves of water hyacinth
will be boiled using 100 mL of deionized water in 200°C for an hour. The extract will then be
filtered using a 125mm filter paper. For the synthesis of silver nanoparticles, varying amounts of
the filtered extract: 10 mL and 20 mL was mixed with 100 mL of 1mM and 2mM aqueous silver
nitrate solution and was stirred vigorously using a magnetic stirrer for an hour. 0.14g of reagent
grade polyvinyl alcohol will be added to 100 mL of deionized water and will be stirred for 2
hours. The solution will then be slowly added with 120 mL of biosynthesized silver
nanoparticles. 5 mL of aqueous PVP solution and PVA-AgNp mixture will be mixed and stirred
vigorously for 2h. The mixture will then be subjected to microwave irradiation with a
temperature of 150 °C for an hour. After microwave irradiation, the synthesized hydrogels will
be placed into 200 mL of deionized water and will be washed for at least 6 days with the water
changed at least once every 2 days.

D. Bibliography
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