Mechanical, antibacterial, and non-cytotoxic performance of polypropylene nanocomposites reinforced with sTiO2 deposited with AgNPs mediated by quercetin biomolecule Article uri icon

abstract

  • In this work, the mechanical, antibacterial, and non-cytotoxic performance of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) nanocomposites was evaluated when silanized TiO2 (sTiO2) nanoparticles deposited with AgNPs were used as filler. The synthesis and deposition on sTiO2 were carried out using the quercetin biomolecule as reducing and stabilizing agents, as green approach. One-step and two-step methods were compared, and two qualities of quercetin were used: reactive grade (99%25 purity) and dietary supplement (20%25 purity). Both methods were characterized by UV, TEM, EDX, XRD, and Z potential. For nanocomposites, iPP was prepared with sTiO2-AgNPs at two ratios, 0.5 and 1%25 w/w, to evaluate whether the nanoparticles can confer antimicrobial activity and improve their mechanical properties. The antibacterial activity was studied against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and the mechanical properties were evaluated by dynamic mechanical analysis. The best nanomaterial was prepared by the one-step method using quercetin dietary supplement, with the highest silver content (7.0%25) and the most significant antibacterial activity, with an improvement of 40%25. As for the nanocomposites, those prepared at 0.05%25 w/w with the one-step method presented the best dynamic mechanical properties, because the fillers were well dispersed and significantly improved the integration and stress dissipation, thus enhancing the antimicrobial capacity. Finally, cytotoxic activity evaluation found that nanocomposites of iPP with sTiO2-AgNPs are non-toxic, unlike single AgNPs. These findings open the possibility of using these nanocomposites with high antimicrobial power and without cytotoxic effects at industrial and commercial level in medicine, food, environment, among others. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

publication date

  • 2022-01-01