Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. azisusan@gmail.com
  • 2 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. mansorahmad@upm.edu.my
  • 3 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. norazowa@science.upm.edu.my
  • 4 Materials Synthesis and Characterization Laboratory, Institute of Advanced Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. mzobir@science.upm.edu.my
  • 5 Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. farideh.namvar@gmail.com
Int J Mol Sci, 2014 Jun 18;15(6):11040-53.
PMID: 24945313 DOI: 10.3390/ijms150611040

Abstract

In this study, cellulose nanocrystals/zinc oxide (CNCs/ZnO) nanocomposites were dispersed as bifunctional nano-sized fillers into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and chitosan (Cs) blend by a solvent casting method to prepare PVA/Cs/CNCs/ZnO bio-nanocomposites films. The morphology, thermal, mechanical and UV-vis absorption properties, as well antimicrobial effects of the bio-nanocomposite films were investigated. It demonstrated that CNCs/ZnO were compatible with PVA/Cs and dispersed homogeneously in the polymer blend matrix. CNCs/ZnO improved tensile strength and modulus of PVA/Cs significantly. Tensile strength and modulus of bio-nanocomposite films increased from 55.0 to 153.2 MPa and from 395 to 932 MPa, respectively with increasing nano-sized filler amount from 0 to 5.0 wt %. The thermal stability of PVA/Cs was also enhanced at 1.0 wt % CNCs/ZnO loading. UV light can be efficiently absorbed by incorporating ZnO nanoparticles into a PVA/Cs matrix, signifying that these bio-nanocomposite films show good UV-shielding effects. Moreover, the biocomposites films showed antibacterial activity toward the bacterial species Salmonella choleraesuis and Staphylococcus aureus. The improved physical properties obtained by incorporating CNCs/ZnO can be useful in variety uses.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.