Fabrication of novel chitosan@Ag/CeO2 hybrid nanocomposites for the study of antibacterial activity

Well crystalline cerium oxide nanostructures (CeO2 Ns), silver nanostructures (Ag Ns), silver/cerium oxide (Ag/CeO2), and chitosan-coated silver/cerium oxide (CS@Ag/CeO2) nanocomposites were synthesized using a simple solution combustion synthesis approach. The morphological and structural qualities of CeO2 Ns, Ag Ns, Ag/CeO2, and CS@Ag/CeO2 nanocomposites were studied by using different characterization techniques. These techniques included X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The antibacterial activity of novel and unique nanocomposite CS@Ag/CeO2 was examined against (Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) gram-positive) and (Escherichia coli (E. coli) gram-negative) bacterial strains. The data revealed that the minimum concentration to inhibit S. aureus growth was 2 μg.ml-1 with a zone of inhibition of 6 mm and for E. coli was 8 μg.ml-1 with a zone of inhibition of 10 mm, respectively. It showed that compared to CeO2 Ns, Ag Ns, and Ag/CeO2, the antibacterial capabilities of CS@Ag/CeO2 nanocomposites were clearly enhanced, and they might be employed for biomedical applications.