Preparation of antibacterial film-based biopolymer embedded with vanadium oxide nanoparticles using one-pot laser ablation

Abstract

An environmentally and cost effective film based on poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitosan (PVA/CS) embedded with vanadium oxide nanoparticles (V2O5 NPs) was fabricated. In our research work, we aimed to utilize one step pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) pathway for the preparation of V2O5 NPs followed by mixing the prepared nanoparticles with polymer solution prior film formation. The target for using V2O5 NPs is to enhance the antibacterial properties of the produced PVA/CS film. The as-prepared nanocomposite films of PVA/CS/V2O5 NPs were extensively examined in terms of their structural, optical, morphological features and thermogravimetric analysis in order to clarify the effect of the added V2O5 NPs with two different concentrations. The interaction between V2O5 NPs and PVA/CS was confirmed by means of XRD and FTIR-ATR techniques. The data obtained depicted that the number of charges carried in the synthesized nanocomposite film that causing an increase in the density of and thus, yield high refractive index via increasing the concentration of V2O5 NPs and laser ablation time. The findings also illustrated that the antibacterial efficacy of the PVA/CS/V2O5 NPs was increased with increasing V2O5 NPs concentration. Based on the obtained resultant, the doping of V2O5 NPs inside the nanocomposite film played an important role for enhancing the antibacterial activity suggesting the potential use of this nanocomposite film in several antibacterial applications.