Low density polyethylene films incorporated with Biosynthesised silver nanoparticles using Moringa oleifera plant extract for antimicrobial, food packaging, and photocatalytic degradation applications

Abstract

The present work reports the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using leaf extract of Moringa oleifera. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using different analytical techniques such as UV–Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The biosynthesized AgNPs show maximum absorbance at 426 nm with an average size of 6–8 nm. The biosynthesized AgNPs were coated with LDPE and analysed for different applications such as antimicrobial, food packaging, and photocatalytic degradation of dyes. The biosynthesized AgNPs shows good performance against E. coli bacteria. Furthermore, AgNPs along with coated low-density polyethylene films shows good antibacterial activity for food packaging application. 85.13% and 91.63% photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and malachite green were obtained respectively in the presence of AgNPs as a photocatalyst. The results of the present investigation suggested that the biosynthesized AgNPs from leaf extract of M. oleifera coated over low-density polyethylene films have a good potential to be a remarkable technological innovation to prevent microbiological contaminations to ensure food safety and preservation.