Simple one-pot in situ synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles on bacterial cellulose membrane using polyethyleneimine

Abstract

ABSTRACT Immobilization of metallic nanoparticles on bacterial cellulose (BC) matrix is widely used in fabricating materials with significant importance in emerging technologies for sensing, catalysis, and biomedical applications. Although reports on in situ integration of nanoparticles have been widely explored, commonly employed methods utilize numerous reagents and tedious synthesis routes. In this work, a one-pot, in situ reductions of gold and silver nanoparticles (AuNPs and AgNPs) was done using polyethyleneimine on a BC matrix obtained from Acetobacter xylinum. The surface chemistry of the BC membrane was studied using FT-IR spectroscopy, and the formation of nanoparticles onto the nanocellulose network was examined using FESEM-EDX analysis, obtaining 30.6 and 4.4 wt. % for Au and Ag, respectively. UV-Vis analysis showed that the SPR peaks were found at 546 nm for AuNPs and 401 nm for AgNPs. Moreover, stability tests confirmed the stable integration of the in situ-synthesized nanoparticles on the BC membrane. This study demonstrated a facile one-pot, in situ synthesis of AuNPs and AgNPs on the BC membrane, providing new insights on nanoparticle-impregnated cellulosic material for further applications.