Tailored Manufacture Of Chitosan-Silver Nanoparticles (Agnp) Composite Membranes: Preparation, Characterization, And Antibacterial Agent

Abstract

Chitosan powder and silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are materials of great interest to researchers due to their excellent properties and wide application potentials. Many studies have been done to improve the utilization of chitosan powder in various fields. One is improving the characteristics of chitosan (Ch) membranes. In this work, the fabrication of chitosan composites membranes was attained by using Ag nanoparticles as fillers for a potential method in improving the physical properties. The composites membranes were made by a casting technique using a solvent of acetic acid. The mass of AgNP used was 10, 100, and 1000 μg. Those membranes called as Ch-AgNP10, Ch-AgNP100, and Ch-AgNP1000, respectively. A pure chitosan membrane was also made, named Ch. The physical property of those membranes have been measured by numerous methods including Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and water uptake capacity. Functional group analysis was performed using a Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) Spectrophotometer. The membranes have also been tested for the antibacterial properties against E. coli, a gram-negative and S. aureus, gram-positive bacteria using Kirby-Bauer inhibition zone method. The results indicated that the diameter of the pores of those composites membranes is smaller than Ch membrane, however, the diameter of the pores increased with increasing the quantity of Ag nanoparticles added. The longest elongation is showed by Ch-AgNP10. The highest value of elastic modulus (E), the tensile strength (TS), and the capacity of the water uptake is indicated by Ch-AgNP100. The XRD pattern showed two characteristic peaks 2θ=14.89o and 21.27o which correspond to the chitosan and some new peaks at 2θ around 29o, 39o, and 47o, that corresponding to Ag nanoparticles. The functional groups detected in the composite membranes included OH and NH stretch, CH stretch, C=O, C-O-C, and metal oxide (Ag-O) which mostly moved to the longer wavelength compared with Ch membrane. The composite membranes have antibacterial effect to the E. coli, but not to S. aureus. Therefore referring to these results, this study provided basic knowledge for the manufacturing chitosan-AgNP composites membranes with tailored characteristics with its application.