Antimicrobial and barrier properties of polyacrylic acid/GO hybrid nanocomposites for packaging application

Abstract Herein, a green and low-cost approach is established for the designing of polyacrylic acid//Graphene Oxide/Silver (PAA/GO/Ag) nanocomposites, by utilizing sodium alginate as a reducing agent in an aqueous medium via in situ polymerization technique. The outstanding thermal stability, remarkable tensile properties, and distinctive chemical resistance of PAA/GO/Ag nanocomposites are credited to the fabrication of Ag nanoparticles (NPs). The thermal stability of such composites showed its resistance up to 600 °C with a residue of 21%. The oxygenated functional groups absorption intensity for PAA/GO/Ag (at 3635 cm−1) is found to be less than the other precursors proving the attachment of Ag NPs on the GO based polymer matrix. The HRTEM images provide a transparent layer-like structure confirming the presence of GO and dark distorted spherical shapes for Ag NPs with an average diameter of 50–70 nm of the designed composite. The zone of inhibition against Escherichia coli (E. Coli) bacteria determines the antibacterial activities of PAA/GO/Ag nanocomposites with various wt% of Ag NPs. The oxygen barrier behaviour of PAA/GO/Ag nanocomposites is raised by eleven folds with the incorporation of 27 × 10−3 wt% of Ag NPs as compared to PAA/GO matrix. Therefore, the reinforcement of Ag NPs enhances the thermal stability, chemical resistance, oxygen barrier, and antimicrobial properties of the PAA/GO matrix, on account of which our synthesized material stands as a beneficial candidate for packaging applications.