Synthesis and characterization of chitosan-PEG-Ag nanocomposites for antimicrobial application

New chitosan nanocomposites doped with silver nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple method. The chitosan particles were prepared by desolvation followed by crosslinking with poly(ethylene glycol-di-aldehyde), this was prepared with poly(ethylene glycol) in the presence of a silver nitrate solution. The developed nanocomposites were characterized using UV-visible, FTIR, XRD, TGA, SEM and TEM to understand their physico-chemical properties. These nanocomposites were shown to have anti bacterial activity towards Escherichia coli. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.