Development and Analysis of Silver Nano Particle Influenced PVA/Natural Particulate Hybrid Composites with Thermo-Mechanical Properties

Owing to develop the utilization of biowaste materials and minimize the usage of plastic materials, Orange peel Powder (OPP) biowaste is chosen as filler material along with Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) as a matrix to form biocomposite films. To stretch its applications to antibacterial applications the metal nanoparticles were incorporated by the in-situ generation of Ag by reducing the various concentration of the aqueous solution of AgNO3 to fabricate novel PVA/OPP/(1 mM to 5 mM)AgNPs hybrid biocomposite films. The fabricated biofilms were undergone the antibacterial test, mechanical test, and characterized by FESEM, FTIR, XRD & thermal analysis. The FESEM images clarify the homogenous distribution of filler materials in the PVA matrix and binding between the filler materials & matrices. FT-IR spectrum illustrates, there is no functional group change in the films by the inclusion of AgNPs as compare to the PVA/OPP films and indicates the strong adhesion and well dispersion of filler materials. XRD patterns confirm the presence of Ag and accentuated the crystallite size of generated AgNPs in the films as 23.44 nm, 25.59 nm, 26.25 nm, 28.17 nm, and 28.42 nm. Thermal analysis of the films shows improved thermal stability as well as glass transition temperature of the composite films included with AgNPs, also the considerable increase in the tensile strength and tensile modulus of the PVA/OPP/AgNPs films as compared to the neat PVA, PVA/OPP films. As compare to neat PVA and PVA/OPP films, with the increase of concentration of AgNO3 source solution antibacterial activity of the PVA/OPP/AgNPs films increases against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. With the above-improved results by the inclusion of Ag nanoparticles, this hybrid biocomposite films can be utilized in food processing industries

Automated summary

The study utilizes orange peel powder as filler material to form antibacterial biocomposite films with polyvinyl alcohol, incorporating silver nanoparticles by in-situ generation. Characterization through various tests showed good distribution of filler materials, improved thermal stability, and increased antibacterial activity against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria with the inclusion of AgNPs. The results suggest the potential application of these hybrid biocomposite films in the food processing industry.