Fabrication of amino acid-based supramolecular hydrogel with silver ions for improved antibacterial properties

Fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-conjugated amino acids, especially Fmoc-phenylalanine (Fmoc-F), are promising antibacterial agents with self-assembly capabilities. However, they possess weak antibacterial activities against gram-negative bacteria, which restricts their wide range of biomedical applications. In this study, Fmoc-F-based self-assembled supramolecular hydrogels were fabricated through a facile incorporation of silver ions. The prepared supramolecular hydrogels showed antibacterial properties (>98.0%) against both Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (E. coli, gram-negative) bacteria. Moreover, the hydrogels were biocompatible, and the cell viability against mouse fibroblast cells was more than 85.0%. These results indicate that the Fmoc-F@Ag hydrogel can be used effectively for antibacterial applications.