Synthesis and Characterization of Chitosan/Silver Nanocomposite Using Rutin for Antibacterial, Antioxidant and Photocatalytic Applications

The present study reports an eco-friendly synthesis of chitosan/silver (CS/Ag) nanocomposite using rutin by a bio-inspired method. The formation of brown color and UV-visible absorbance peak at 415 nm confirmed the synthesis of CS/Ag nanocomposite. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed the crystalline peaks of both chitosan and silver in synthesized CS/Ag nanocomposite. Field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analysis showed that the synthesized CS/Ag nanocomposite having predominant spherical shaped nanostructure with an average size of 23-78 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis indicated the presence of functional derivatives related to chitosan and rutin in CS/Ag nanocomposite. Synthesized CS/Ag nanocomposite exhibited superior disc diffusion antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. The in vitro antioxidant of CS/Ag nanocomposite was evaluated spectrophotometrically by using DPPH method. The percentage of antioxidant activity was increased with increasing concentration of CS/Ag nanocomposite. Furthermore, photocatalytic activity of CS/Ag nanocomposite was evaluated by the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solution under sunlight irradiation. Results showed that the degradation efficiency of MB reached up to 88% after irradiation for 220 min. Thus, the obtained results indicated that the synthesized CS/Ag nanocomposite using rutin can be a promising nanomaterial for multifunctional applications.

Automated summary

This study reports an eco-friendly synthesis of chitosan/silver (CS/Ag) nanocomposite using rutin by a bio-inspired method. The synthesized nanocomposite exhibited superior antibacterial and antioxidant activities, as well as good photocatalytic performance, indicating great potential for multifunctional applications.