Preparation and application of (Cu2O‐Ag)@TA composite nanomaterials with enhanced stability and photocatalytic antibacterial activity

Abstract

AbstractFood spoilage caused by bacterial growth is a serious threat to human health, so food preservation technology with long‐acting antibacterial effect has been widely studied. In this work, (Cu2O‐Ag)@TA heterojunction composite antibacterial material with a core‐shell structure was synthesized to improve the stability of Cu2O. Morphological characterization shows that silver nanoparticles are uniformly distributed on the surface of Cu2O microspheres, (Cu2O‐Ag)@TA has a core‐shell structure, the particle size is about 300 nm, and the thickness of the tannic acid shell is about 6 nm. In addition, (Cu2O‐Ag)@TA exhibits excellent dispersibility and stability, it can stably release Cu2+ within 14 days and has enhanced reactive oxygen species release performance, thus achieving excellent antibacterial properties, with a minimum inhibitory concentrations of 96 μg ml−1 against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. In addition, adding (Cu2O‐Ag)@TA into the LbL‐PVA/CS/FA composite film can improve the mechanical properties and antibacterial ability of the composite film, providing a feasible solution for new biodegradable antibacterial packaging materials.