BISMUTH OXIDE NANOPARTICLES IMMOBILIZED PAPER MATRICES FOR THE STUDY OF ANTIMICROBIAL APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Bismuth oxide (Bi203) nanoparticles of diameters in the range of 30 to 100 nm have been immobilized on the cellulose fibers of the paper matrices by a facile single step in situ method. These paper matrices were employed to study the antibacterial activities in visible light against Eschcrjchja co/i (E. co/i). The Bi203 contents in the paper matrices were varied from 0 to 5 wt % and its effect on the antibacterial activity has been investigated. It has been observed that the paper matrices with 5 wi % Bi203 could inhibits a complete E. co/i growth in 9 h of visible light exposure with an initial bacterial count of 431 xl 0. To check the activity of Bi203 the antibacterial activity was also tested in dark condition and it was found that there was no appreciable antibacterial activity. To determine the Bi203 content in the cellulose paper matrices, the inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry analysis and combustion test were performed. The structural and niicrostructural studies of the Bi203 nanoparticles and the paper matrices were carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FuR) and Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) etc.