Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.2012,3, 684–691, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.78
]. Cellulose fibers used for papermaking are hygroscopic in nature [9][10] and this property was used to our advantage when developing the antimicrobial paper. The adsorbed moisture can be utilized for the production of hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and/or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) through photocatalysis.
Both ·OH
grown on glass substrates [25].
The proper attachment of the ZnO nanorods to the paper is crucial for commercial applications. Cellulose, the major ingredient of softwood pulp, is a long-chain polymer with hydroxyl groups that can form hydrogen bonds with the surface oxygen atoms of ZnO nanoparticles
the inhibition zone.
Growth of A. niger in the presence of (a) untreated paper and (b) paper with ZnO nanorods, after 72 h of growth.
Schematic diagram showing possible hydrogen bonding of the hydroxy groups on the cellulose molecule with surface oxygen atoms of the ZnO nanoparticles.
Scanning
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Figure 1:
Increase in zone of inhibition for E. coli and S. aureus with increasing incubation time under dark...
Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.2010,1, 94–100, doi:10.3762/bjnano.1.11
resulting nanocomposites show high transparency of up to 93%. A photoluminescence quantum efficiency of 70% was obtained, with an optimum combination of nanorod (0.05 wt %) and at a UV-initiator concentration of 0.1 wt % for poly(lauryl methacrylate). Nanorods tend to agglomerate in cellulose triacetate
amount of cross-linker either flexible (<20 wt % EGDM) or rigid nanocomposites could be fabricated. In our second method we fabricated thin polymer films using a radical free drop-casting process. Cellulose triacetate (CTA) was chosen as polymer because of its high transparency, hydrophobicity and