In situ preparation of silver nanocomposites on cellulosic fibers – Microwave vs. conventional heating

A green approach for the preparation of silver nanocomposites on viscose fibers using microwave and conventional heating is presented. Reduction of silver nitrate is induced by addition of 6-O chitosan sulfate (S-Chi) in aqueous media which provides steric protection and electrostatic stabilization to prevent agglomeration of the nanoparticles. The particles are formed in close spatial proximity to the fibers and adsorption of the particles via structural similarity takes place to create silver nanocomposites. All nanocomposites have been subjected to antimicrobial tests and high antimicrobial activity toward Escherichia coli bacteria has been determined. Further, the nanocomposites are characterized using different analytical techniques which reveal very similar results for both heating techniques. The only significant difference is observed concerning the shape of the nanoparticles on the viscose fibers which are slightly elongated for the microwave method in comparison to spheres observed by conventional heating. Therefore, detailed investigations on the formation of colloidal silver nanoparticles have been performed, comparing microwave dielectric and conventional heating at the exact same temperature and reaction times. These experiments resulted in nearly identical nanoparticle shape and size for both heating methods as demonstrated by dynamic light scattering, UV–vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A wide range of parameters has been varied (temperature, AgNO3 to S-Chi ratio, reaction time, and stirring speed) to study the nanoparticle formation under microwave and conventional conditions. No evidence for the existence of so-called specific microwave effects was obtained.