ENCAPSULATED ZnO-BIO-NANOCOMPOSITES MODIFIED PAPER FOR ANTIBODY IMMOBILIZATION

Abstract

Paper sheets containing ZnO-bio-nanocornposites/ZnO-carbohydrate-nanocomposi te (ZnO nanoparticles in conjunction with glucose, sucrose, alginic acid and starch) were successfully prepared by the standard Handsheet making procedure for the high end applications. The ZnO nanoparticles of size 3 nm were prepared by the microwave assisted synthesis method using the commercial zinc acetate powder as a precursor at 800 W for 30 sec. The carbohydrates in ZnO-bio-nanocomposites prevent the agglomeration of the ZnO nanoparticles during the synthesis procedure and furthermore it has several advantages such as biodegradability over various other polymers, i.e. cetyltrimethylammoniumchloride (CTAC) and cetyltrirnethylpyridiniunichioride (CPyC), used to prevent the agglomeration. The structural analysis of the ZnO-bio-nanocomposites as well as ZnO-bio-nanocomposites incorporated paper sheets were carried out by a range of characterization methods including UV-visible spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The as prepared ZnO-bio-nanocomposites incorporated paper sheets were tested for antibacterial and antifungal activity against Escherichia co/i, Staphylococcus aureus, Gloeophyllum iraheun and I'enicilliurn funiculosuin. The results showed strong anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activity of ZnO-bio-nanocomposites with more than 80% microbial reduction in case of Gram-negative (E. co/i) bacteria. Also the effects of ZnO-bio-nanocomposites on various mechanical, optical and surthce properties of the modified paper sheets were tested which showed the significant improvement in the tensile index, opacity and smoothness. Furthermore, the paper sheets were used to immobilize the blood typing antibodies (antibody .A, B, and D) and showed more then 70% retention after rewettirig applications