A GREEN AND SIMPLE SYNTHESIS OF CHITOSAN/Ag NANOCOMPOSITES AND STUDY FOR THEIR ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY ON STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS AND ESCHERICHIA COLI

A green and simple approach has been successfully developed to synthesize chitosan/Ag nanocomposites using kumquat extract as a biological reducing agent. It indicates to be an eco-friendly and green method for the synthesis providing a cost effective and an efficient route for the chitosan/Ag nanocomposites’ synthesis. The prepared chitosan/Ag nanocomposites have been characterized by UV-vis, TEM, FTIR, and XRD. Result showed those chitosan/Ag nanocomposites have been obtained with average particle size ~15-25 nm. Moreover, the synthesized chitosan/Ag nanocomposites also showed their efficient antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and E. coli . The chitosan/Ag nanocomposite was found to have significantly higher antimicrobial activity than its components at their respective concentrations. The presence of a small percentage (2.5 %, w/w) of metal nanoparticles in the nanocomposite was enough to significantly enhance inactivation of S. aureus and E. coli as compared with unaltered chitosan. Thus, this eco-friendly method could be a competitive alternative to the conventional physical/chemical methods used for the synthesis of chitosan/Ag nanocomposites. Since, it has a potential to use in biomedical and cosmetic applications.