Impregnation of two noble metal nanoparticles and MWCNT into bacterial cellulose: Synthesis and characterization

Abstract

Impregnation of noble metal (platinum, Pt and ruthenium, Ru) nanoparticles and MWCNT (multiwalled carbon nanotube) were carried out under ambient conditions in bacterial cellulose (BC) as nanoreactors. Nanoparticles of less than 3 nm were readily prepared using the described approach, and monodisperse nanoparticles were obtained under an optimized concentration of the metal precursor solution. The nanoporous structure and the high density of the hydrogen bond (between oxygen and hydrogen) of the cellulose fiber constitute an effective nanoreactor for synthesis of metal nanoparticles. The preparative procedure is facile and versatile, and provides a simple route to manufacturing of useful noble metal nanoparticles. The content of Ru nanoparticles is relatively higher up to 17.30% than that of Pt nanoparticles which is only 13.34% for each precursor concentration. The presence of such noble metal nanoparticles and MWCNT fillers causes the nanocomposite thermal properties to be better than the BC itself. The resulting nanoparticles were analyzed by XRD, SEM-EDS, TGA, and TEM.