The antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticle (Ag0) and silver oxide (Ag2O) in PLAPBS-D (polylactic acid-polybuthylene succinate-diatomite) green composites

Abstract

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of silver nanoparticles (Ag0-NPs) and silver oxide (Ag2O) as antibacterial agents against E. coli bacteria in PLA/PBS-D matrix. In addition, 10% of diatomite (D) was added to be the absorbent for Ag0-NPs. Synthesis of composites PLA/PBS-10D-Ag0NPs-1% and PLA/PBS-10D-Ag2O-1%-GPTS-3% was carried out where 3-glycidyloxypropyl-trimethoxysilane (GPTS) was used as the compatibilizer. The resulting composites were analyzed by IR, XRD, hardness, impact, tensile strength, and thermal properties. The antibacterial agent was obtained from Ag0-NPs, which impregnated into diatomite pores to form silver nanoparticle-diatomite (Ag0-NPsD). The XRD diffractograms showed peaks at 2[Formula: see text] 16.64[Formula: see text], 33.01[Formula: see text], 38.1[Formula: see text], and 44.38[Formula: see text] for PLA-PBS, Ag2O, and Ag0-NPs. Adding 10 phr of Ag0-NPsD, D and 3%-GPTS to the PLA-PBS system increased the hardness to 84.67 and 86.33, respectively. The impact strength of the composites increased significantly after the addition of 3% GPTS. The addition of Ag0-NPsD and 3%GPTS increased thermal properties of the composites. The antibacterial test results showed that the composite PLA/PBS-10D-Ag2O-1%-GPTS-3% was not effective as an antibacterial agent. In contrast, PLA/PBS-10D-Ag0 NPs-1% showed the ability to inhibit the E. Coli bacterial growth up to 99%. In the PLA/PBS-D system, Ag0-NPs are more effective for inhibiting the E. Coli bacterial growth than Ag2O.