Development of multifunctional polyacrylonitrile/silver nanocomposite films: Antimicrobial activity, catalytic activity, electrical conductivity, UV protection and SERS-active sensor

Abstract

The formulation of polymer with embedded nanoparticles results in promising nanocomposites and substrates for smart, medical and analytical applications. Nanocomposite polyacrylonitrile (PAN) films containing silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were developed to introduce multifunctional film matrix with antimicrobial activity, electrical conductivity, ultraviolet blocking and catalytic activity. In addition, the prepared PAN/Ag NPs nanocomposite films can be applied in the identification of biological molecules using surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). PAN/Ag NPs nanocomposites were prepared by reducing Ag+ to Ag0 under microwave irradiation. The reduction process of Ag+ to Ag NPs was performed in-situ within the matrix of polyacrylonitrile fibers dissolved in N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF). Thus, DMF was functioned as a reducing agent for the generation of Ag NPs from silver nitrate (AgNO3) and as a solvent for polyacrylonitrile. The Ag NPs were evaluated Via UV–vis spectrum TEM. The PAN and PAN/Ag NPs nanocomposite were analyzed, by using SEM, EDX, FTIR, XRD, XPS, TGA and DSC. The reaction mechanism for in-situ deposition of Ag NPs onto PAN polymer matrix was also explored. The influence of Ag NPs on multifunctional properties of PAN nanocomposite films such as coloration properties, antimicrobial activity, electrical conductivity property, UV protection activity, SERS and catalytic activity were evaluated. The results displayed that, the PAN/Ag NPs nanocomposites films were exhibited excellent antimicrobial activities against different micro-organisms as well as very good electrical conductivity and UV protection properties. Moreover, the PAN/Ag NPs nanocomposites films were shown highly SERS sensitivity at low concentration as well as high catalytic activity. In straightforward, this simple, fast and inexpensive novel approach will pave the way for a variety of smart medical applications, such as scar-less burn wound healing and biological protective substrates as well as analytical application.