Synthesis and Characterization of Chitosan/Silver Nanocomposite Using Rutin for Antibacterial, Antioxidant and Photocatalytic Applications

The present study reports an eco-friendly synthesis of chitosan/silver (CS/Ag) nanocomposite using rutin by a bio-inspired method. The formation of brown color and UV–visible absorbance peak at 415 nm confirmed the synthesis of CS/Ag nanocomposite. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed the crystalline peaks of both chitosan and silver in synthesized CS/Ag nanocomposite. Field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analysis showed that the synthesized CS/Ag nanocomposite having predominant spherical shaped nanostructure with an average size of 23–78 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis indicated the presence of functional derivatives related to chitosan and rutin in CS/Ag nanocomposite. Synthesized CS/Ag nanocomposite exhibited superior disc diffusion antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. The in vitro antioxidant of CS/Ag nanocomposite was evaluated spectrophotometrically by using DPPH method. The percentage of antioxidant activity was increased with increasing concentration of CS/Ag nanocomposite. Furthermore, photocatalytic activity of CS/Ag nanocomposite was evaluated by the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solution under sunlight irradiation. Results showed that the degradation efficiency of MB reached up to 88% after irradiation for 220 min. Thus, the obtained results indicated that the synthesized CS/Ag nanocomposite using rutin can be a promising nanomaterial for multifunctional applications.