Radiation Synthesis and Characterization of Polyethylene Oxide/ Chitosan- Silver Nano composite for Biomedical Applications

Chitosan/ polyethylene oxide (CS/PEO) nano composites (NCs) containing different amount of silver nanoparticles were prepared using gamma irradiation at radiation 20 kGy. The prepared nano composites (Ag/CS/PEO) were characterized by the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was found that, Plasmon resonance (SPR) band is observed at 368 nm in the UV-visible spectrum indicates the formation of Ag-NPs. the Tonset increases with increasing Ag content in the nano composite which indicates enhancement in thermal stability. The morphological analysis evaluates the uniformity of the distribution of Ag NPs within the polymer matrix. Ag/ CS and Ag/ CS/ PEO nano composites have antibacterial activity against gram-negative (Esherichia coli) and gram-positive bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus). These results revealed that the Ag/ CS/ PEO nano composites films can be used as potential materials in biomedical applications.