Preparation of Polystyrene Nanocomposites Based on Silver Nanoparticles Using Marine Bacterium for Packaging

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) were synthesized using marine bacterial isolate (MER1) culture filtrate and considered as eco-friendly nanofactories that meet many biotechnological applications. Ag-NPs were characterized by UV spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) and impregnated into polystyrene (PS) matrix. The morphology of the prepared PS/Ag-NPs nanocomposites was characterized using SEM and TEM. Furthermore, the mechanical properties were evaluated. The prepared PS/Ag nanocomposites exhibited antimicrobial effect against gram-positive, gram-negative (G^+ve, G^−ve), yeast and fungal test microbe. These nanocomposites films can be used as food packaging materials.

Keywords:

• Antibacterial
• Nanocomposites
• Polystyrene
• SEM
• Silver nanoparticles
• TEM