Thermal instability,
photodegradation, and poor bioavailability
of natural active ingredients are major drawbacks in developing effective
natural product-based antimicrobial formulations. These inherited
issues could be fruitfully mitigated by the introduction of natural
active ingredients into various nanostructures. This study focuses
on the development of a novel green mechanochemical synthetic route
to incorporate curcuminoids into Mg-Al-layered double hydroxides.
The developed one-pot and scalable synthetic approach makes lengthy
synthesis procedures using toxic solvents redundant, leading to improved
energy efficiency. The hydrotalcite-shaped nanohybrids consist of
surface and interlayer curcuminoids that have formed weak bonds with
layered double hydroxides as corroborated by X-ray diffractograms,
X-ray photoelectron spectra, and Fourier transmission infrared spectra.
The structural and morphological properties resulted in increased
thermal stability of curcuminoids. Slow and sustained release of the
curcuminoids was observed at pH 5.5 for a prolonged time up to 7 h.
The developed nanohybrids exhibited zeroth-order kinetics, favoring
transdermal application. Furthermore, the efficacy of curcuminoid
incorporated LDHs (CC-LDH) as an anticolonization agent was investigated
against four wound biofilm-forming pathogens, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus aureus, and Candida albicans, using a broth
dilution method and an in vitro biofilm model system.
Microbiological studies revealed a 54–58% reduction in biofilm
formation ability of bacterial pathogens in developed nanohybrids
compared to pure curcuminoids. Therefore, the suitability of these
green-chemically synthesized CC-LDH nanohybrids for next-generation
antimicrobial applications with advanced dermatological/medical properties
is well established.