Antibacterial Effect of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles on Polyvinyl Chloride-Based Polymer Nanocomposite

Abstract

Since polymer nanocomposites provide a versatile method to improve safety and protection in various applications, they are essential in tackling the problem of microbial infections. These nanocomposites are designed to actively prevent the growth of bacteria by including antimicrobial agents such as functional groups or nanoparticles. In the present article, copper oxide nanoparticles were synthesized via the green method using the solution method. The grafting of N-ethyl piperazine (NEP) to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polymer was carried out to obtain NEP–PVC polymer using solution polymerization technique and further reacted with CuO nanoparticles to obtain polymernanocomposite which was characterized using FTIR and ¹H-NMR, SEM, TEM, DLS, and XRD. The comparison in the antibacterial activity of nanocomposite and the synthesized polymer was carried out to determine its efficacy against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus using the spread plate method. Our findings indicate that NEP–PVC-based nanocomposite after incorporating copper oxide nanoparticles has enhanced the antibacterial properties over NEP–PVC polymer, henceforth a promising candidate to be used in medical devices, food packaging, and surface coatings.