Synthesis and study on mechanical properties of the polypropylene/TiO2 - nano Ag composite for antibacterial application

Abstract

In this study, PP/TiO2 – nano Ag composite were successfully prepared by melt mixing method. The composites TiO2 – nano Ag and PP/TiO2 – nano Ag with different silver content were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Xray diffraction (XRD) and IR spectrum to investigate their morphology and chemical compositions. It was found that the silver nanoparticles in TiO2 matrix were uniformly distributed and strongly attached to the polypropylene matrix and the average particle size of TiO2 – nano Ag was from 30 to 60 nm. As the result, the antibacterial property was obtained via microorganism test by showing the elimination of more than 99 % of E. coli bacteria. And UV protection behavior was also observed by UV-Vis characterization. In the other hand, the mechanical properties of polypropyleneTiO2-nano Ag composite were noticeably improved as compared to the neat polypropylene.