ABSTRACT
Stimuli responsive nanocomposite hydrogels have gained much attention worldwide due to its application in biomedicine, environment, industry, etc. The targeted functional group in the hydrogel can act as reactive site for the metal nanoparticles Hydrogels (HG), the three-dimensional polymeric network, have enough space in the swollen state that can act as nanoreactor for nucleation and growth of nanoparticles (Murali et al., 2007). The metal nanoparticles have high speciic surface area and high surface-to-volume ratio, which have been studied extensively due to their unique properties such as magnetic, optical, catalytic, and antimicrobial properties. Among the widely studied nanoparticles, silver is superior due to its high electrical conductivity, antimicrobial
effect, optical properties, oxidative catalysis, etc. (Zhongping et al., 2001). These properties were not shown in molecules or in bulk but could be observed only in nanometric range. Silver nanoparticles are being considered non-toxic eco-friendly antibacterial material (Murali et al., 2007).
