Fabrication and Characterization of (PVA-TiO2)1-x/ SiCx Nanocomposites for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

The structural, electrical and electronic properties of (PVA–TiO2-SiC) nanocomposites for antibacterial application have been investigated with low cost, low weight and high activity for antibacterial. The (PVA–TiO2-SiC) nanocomposites were prepared with different concentrations of (PVA–TiO2) nanocomposites and silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles. The casting method was used to prepare the (PVA–TiO2-SiC) nanocomposites. The silicon carbide nanoparticles were added to the (PVA–TiO2) nanocomposites with concentrations (x) are (1.5, 3,4.5 and 6) wt.%. The electrical properties of (PVA–TiO2-SiC) nanocomposites were studied at different temperatures. The results showed that the SiC nanoparticles form a paths network inside the (PVA–TiO2) nanocomposites at concentrations (4.5 and 6) wt.%. The conductivity (PVA–TiO2-SiC) nanocomposites is increased with increase of silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles concentrations from 4×10-11 (Ω. cm)-1 to 7.4×10-11 (Ω. cm)-1. The activation energy of (PVA-TiO2-SiC) nanocomposites decreases with the increase of silicon carbide nanoparticles concentrations from (0.76 eV) to (0.703 eV) when the silicon carbide nanoparticles concentrations increase from (0-6) wt.%.. The total energies of the (PVA–TiO2-SiC) nanocomposites were studied by using Gaussian 09(G09) program and density functional theory (DFT) with B3LYP/6-31G) basis set. The total energies decrease with increase the number of atoms. The (PVA–TiO2-SiC) nanocomposites tested for antibacterial applications against gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli) by using a disc diffusion method. The results showed that the prepared nanocomposites have good antibacterial activity.