Preparation of GC/PEG/ZnO/Ag nanocomposites
Aqueous chitosan solution of 0.2% (w/v) was prepared by dissolving
chitosan powder in aqueous 1% (v/v) acetic acid solution.
Chitosan/PEG/ZnO/Ag solutions were prepared by mixing chitosan
solution and PEG with various amounts of ZnO and Ag nanoparticles.
0.4 wt% of genipin was dissolved in 3 ml of water and then
was added to the chitosan/PEG/ZnO/Ag mixed solutions under
stirring for 8 h at room temperature to obtain a uniformly distributed
and viscous solution. Films were prepared by casting the
GC/PEG/ZnO/Ag nanocomposites onto plastic dishes.
They were dried at room temperature for 48 h, and then further vacuum dried
to remove any residual solvent. All films were neutralized in a 0.1 M
NaOH solution for about 10 min, washed thoroughly with distilled
water, and dried again. GC/PEG/ZnO/Ag nanocomposite films were
stored in a desiccator at room temperature for further experiments.
The formulation of GC/PEG/ZnO/Ag nanocomposites is shown in