Studies on Properties of Rice Straw/Polymer Nanocomposites Based on Polycaprolactone and Fe(3)O(4) Nanoparticles and Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity

Modified rice straw/Fe(3)O(4)/polycaprolactone nanocomposites (ORS/Fe(3)O(4)/PCL-NCs) have been prepared for the first time using a solution casting method. The RS/Fe(3)O(4)-NCs were modified with octadecylamine (ODA) as an organic modifier. The prepared NCs were characterized by using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The XRD results showed that as the intensity of the peaks decreased with the increase of ORS/Fe(3)O(4)-NCs content in comparison with PCL peaks, the Fe(3)O(4)-NPs peaks increased from 1.0 to 60.0 wt. %. The TEM and SEM results showed a good dispersion of ORS/Fe(3)O(4)-NCs in the PCL matrix and the spherical shape of the NPs. The TGA analysis indicated thermal stability of ORS/Fe(3)O(4)-NCs increased after incorporation with PCL but the thermal stability of ORS/Fe(3)O(4)/PCL-NCs decreased with the increase of ORS/Fe(3)O(4)-NCs content. Tensile strength was improved with the addition of 5.0 wt. % of ORS/Fe(3)O(4)-NCs. The antibacterial activities of the ORS/Fe(3)O(4)/PCL-NC films were examined against Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) by diffusion method using nutrient agar. The results indicated that ORS/Fe(3)O(4)/PCL-NC films possessed a strong antibacterial activity with the increase in the percentage of ORS/Fe(3)O(4)-NCs in the PCL.