Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activities of Bacterial Nanocellulose Membranes Incorporated With β‐Cyclodextrin–Silver Nanoparticles

Alternative antimicrobial nanostructured surfaces have attracted attention in the literature due to the rising resistance profile of bacteria against conventional antibiotics. In particular, metal nanoparticles (NPs) are attractive due to their tunable surface‐to‐volume ratio, which enables a nanostructured coating layer to offer stability and improved antibacterial activity. In particular, β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) has been explored as a promising active capping agent that enhances the antibacterial activity of AgNPs. In this study, the synthesis of β‐CD/AgNPs compounds takes place in the bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) membrane as a part of a strategy to mutually incorporate the pseudo‐spherical AgNPs coated by β‐CD (bound by chemisorption via hydroxyl groups) into the BNC membrane. As a result, a biomaterial‐based support with outstanding antibacterial (against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli ) and antibiofilm activity (against S. aureus ) is obtained with the surface and bulk incorporation of β‐CD‐AgNPs of 20 nm in size that promotes a reduction in the biofilm formation of S. aureus by 74% on modified BNC membrane in comparison with pure BNC membrane (negative control), characterizing a promising application in antibiofilm membranes.