Chitosan-silver oxide nanocomposite film: Preparation and antimicrobial activity

The chitosan-silver oxide encapsulated nanocomposite film was prepared by solution casting method. The prepared film was characterized by FTIR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal studies, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The elemental composition of the film was studied by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX). The antibacterial activity of the composite film against pathogenic bacteria viz. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was measured by agar diffusion method. Our observations suggest that chitosan as biomaterial based nanocomposite film containing silver oxide has an excellent antibacterial ability for food packaging applications.