Antibacterial application of polyvinylalcohol-nanogold composite membranes

The present invention explores the antibacterial efficacy of ultra stable gold nanoparticles (GNPs), embedded polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hybrid membranes. A green approach to synthesize the ultra stable GNPʹs using Phyllanthus emblica (amla) extract was adapted. These GNPʹs were impregnated in PVA matrix to fabricate hybrid PVA-nanogold membranes by solvent casting technique. The facile green synthesis resulted in spherical gold nanoparticles with an average diameter of 2–4 nm. The Xigo analysis suggested the ultra high stability of these nanoparticles for more than 6 months. The interaction of GNPʹs with PVA matrix was studied using FTIR and the surface topology was studied using AFM. Antibacterial efficacy of these hybrid membranes was assessed using disc diffusion method against Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial strains. The inhibitory effects of the hybrid membranes resulted in a zone of inhibition of 0.8–1.0 cm over a period of 24 h.