Investigation of antibacterial activity of treated and coated papers with zinc oxide nanoparticles and nanocrystalline cellulose

Sustainable biomaterials and mineral materials such as cellulose nanocrystals and zinc oxide nanoparticles, have been considered for the production of various products due to their properties such as biodegradability and safety. PCL, which is one of the most important polymers produced in petrochemicals, is widely used due to its easy degradation in the nature. In this study, the effects of coating with polycaprolactone (PCL, 10%), nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC, 4 and 6%) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO, 3%) and their composition on the antibacterial properties of the coated papers were investigated. Also, the antibacterial properties of the papers treated by (ZnO, 3%) and (NCC, 4 and 6%) were studied. The papers antibacterial test was performed on the staphylococcus aureus and escherichia coli batteries in the mueller hinton agar plates with disc diffusion method. The nanocrystalline cellulose prepared in the laboratory were studied by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Investigation of the images and the spectra showed that the crystalline cellulose produced in the nanoscale. The results showed that the papers coated with (PCL 10% and ZnO 3%), had better antibacterial properties than the papers coated with (PCL 10%, and NCC 4 and 6%) and ternary composition of coating materials (PCL 10%, NCC 4 and 6%, and ZnO 3%). Also, the papers treated with ZnO 3% and NCC 4 and 6% had better antibacterial properties than papers treated with ZnO 3%. Also, the antibacterial properties of the coated papers were more than the treated papers.