Novel chitosan/Ag/ZnO blend films were prepared via the
method of sol-cast transformation. Ag and ZnO NPs with spherical
and granular morphology had uniform distribution within chitosan
polymer. The test of antimicrobial activities showed that
CS/Ag/ZnO blend films had higher antimicrobial activities than
CS/Ag and CS/ZnO blend films, indicating that the composite of
Ag and ZnO enhanced the antimicrobial activities of chitosan.
Moreover, CS/Ag/ZnO blend films showed a wide spectrum of
effective antimicrobial activities. Especially, the blend films with
0.1 wt.% Ag and 10 wt.% ZnO exhibited high antimicrobial activities
and translucent appearance. It suggested that CS/Ag/ZnO blend
films had potential application in medical and food packaging
fields.