Bio-based chitosan/gelatin/Ag@ZnO bionanocomposites: synthesis and mechanical and antibacterial properties

Chitosan exhibits a wide range of bio-properties, including biocompatibility, antimicrobial activity, and biodegradability. In this study, we prepared bionanocomposites by using chitosan/gelatin with different concentrations of silver-loaded zinc oxide nanoparticles. The silver-loaded ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using the sol–gel method with a gelatin template. The bionanocomposite films were prepared via green chemistry approach, using a solution casting method. The bionanocomposites were well-characterized using fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and stability and rheological studies. The enhanced antibacterial activity of the bionanocomposites was studied. Swelling tests were performed by varying the pH of the test solution. The mechanical and thermal properties of the biopolymer matrix were improved by introduction of small amounts of Ag@ZnO. Overall, our results suggest that the bionanocomposites have the potential to increase the efficiency of tissue engineering and thus could serve as suitable materials for biomedical and antimicrobial packaging applications.