An insight into the effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles on the structural, thermal, mechanical properties and antimicrobial activity of Cs/PVA composite

Zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared by a sol-gel method and characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and EDX. A series of chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol (Cs/PVA) blend films doped with various concentrations of Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were prepared by solution casting method. These samples were characterized by various analytical techniques. XRD patterns of the prepared samples showed increasing in amorphousity of the polymer blend with increasing the content of ZnO NPs in Cs/PVA blend. The FT-IR analysis confirmed the complexation between Cs/PVA blend and ZnO NPs. From the UV-vis results, the optical energy gap was calculated. The TGA analysis displayed that the thermal stability of all the samples improved after the addition of the ZnO NPs. By the tensile universal testing machine, the mechanical properties of the prepared films were determined. The antimicrobial analysis showed that all nanocomposite films exhibited enhanced antimicrobial efficacy as compared to pure Cs/PVA film and it is linearly related to the amount of ZnO nanoparticles in the matrix. The sample containing 10 and 15 wt.% ZnO NPs exhibited the highest thermal stability, mechanical strength, and antibacterial activity. This nanocomposite with excellent thermal stability, tensile and antibacterial properties can be potentially utilized for antimicrobial packaging purposes and can be widely used in medical applications.