Synthesis of Bio-Nano Composite Film and Their Application in Filtration and Sterilization of Heat Labile Materials

摘要

Nanotechnology is the fast-growing science with a variety of applications in every sphere of life. Nanomaterials have been widely investigated for their unique physicochemical properties such as anti-microbial, due to their unusual interfacial effects.It is well known that the silver in its nano form has a broad range of application in the field of nanotechnology since silver nano particles (AgNPs) is biocompatible metal and has low toxicity towards mammalian cells and tissues. AgNPs have an extremely large relative surface area to volume, and hence increasing their contact with bacteria or fungi which vastly improves their bactericidal and fungicidal effectiveness. This project attempts to provide an alternative way to the expensive techniques such as ultrafiltration and microfiltration used for filtration and sterilization of heat labile substances by exploring the field of nanotechnology. The bio-nano composite film fabricated aims to serve a better way of filtration and sterilization as compared to their conventional filter counterparts and base polymer. Such film would be economical at industrial scale and could be used more readily for commercial applications. A novel method was implemented to impregnate AgNPs into Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) by curry leaf (Murrayakoenigii) extract. The active reduction of silver ions by curry leaf extract was explored for the in situ impregnation ofAgNPs into MCC. Curry leaf extract caused the reduction of silver ions into silver, which nucleated in to silver nanoparticles on the micro-crystalline fibrils. The bioreduction of silver nanoparticles and its impregnation was investigated through various characterization techniques. The characterization of AgNP impregnated MCC powder confirms the formation of Ag structure on microcrystalline cellulose. The MCC impregnated with AgNPs was used to prepare a film after testing for its anti-microbial activity. The film was characterized for its pore size. Lastly the film was assessed for anti-microbial activity for it to be used as a filter.AgNPs were successfully synthesized which was confirmed through UV-visible analysis. The AgNPs were impregnated into MCC as revealed by analysis. The size of the nanoparticles was determined to be in the range of 5-20nm.The film was fabricated through solvent casting method using sodium alginate as the polymer. The anti-microbial analysis gave positive results and thus could be used as an alternate method for the sterilization of heat labile substances.