Fabrication of biocompatible nanocomposite consisted of zinc oxide nanoparticles based poly (Acrylonitrile-co-Acrylic acid)

The addition of appropriate additives can change the properties of the polymer matrix. Nanocomposites are useful because of its high aspect ratio. Selection of additives which can make a cheaper and multifunctional material is one of the major issues. ZnO nanoparticles can be used as an additive in preparing biocompatible and biodegradable nanocomposite which would have several analytical and biomedical applications. ZnO nanoparticles are multifunctional materials and in recent years they drawn an increasing attention because of its physical and chemical stability, high catalysis activity, effective antibacterial and bactericide function and intensive UV and IR absorption. Hence considering the above reasons, in the present study the incorporation of different amounts of ZnO powder inside the P oly(acrylonitrile-co-acrylic acid) is done by a low cost physico-mechanical method to prepare polymer nanocomposite for multiple purposes. The as synthesized ZnO based Poly(acrylonitrile-co-acrylic acid) composite sheets were characterized by various analytical techniques such as FTIR, Raman Spectroscopy, SEM, XRD and TGDTA. The analyses indicated the uniform dispersion of ZnO nanoparticles inside the polymer matrix resulted in crystalline structure which resulted in improved thermal stability and low water holding capacity and swelling ratio. The as synthesized nanocomposites were effectively utilized for biological activities. Copyright © 2018 VBRI Press.