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. 2016 Dec 30;7(1):6.
doi: 10.3390/nano7010006.

Spectroscopic Characterization of Copper-Chitosan Nanoantimicrobials Prepared by Laser Ablation Synthesis in Aqueous Solutions

Maria Chiara Sportelli  1   2 , Annalisa Volpe  3   4 , Rosaria Anna Picca  5 , Adriana Trapani  6 , Claudio Palazzo  7 , Antonio Ancona  8 , Pietro Mario Lugarà  9   10 , Giuseppe Trapani  11 , Nicola Cioffi  12
Affiliations

Spectroscopic Characterization of Copper-Chitosan Nanoantimicrobials Prepared by Laser Ablation Synthesis in Aqueous Solutions

Maria Chiara Sportelli et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Copper-chitosan (Cu-CS) nanoantimicrobials are a novel class of bioactive agents, providing enhanced and synergistic efficiency in the prevention of biocontamination in several application fields, from food packaging to biomedical. Femtosecond laser pulses were here exploited to disrupt a Cu solid target immersed into aqueous acidic solutions containing different CS concentrations. After preparation, Cu-CS colloids were obtained by tuning both Cu/CS molar ratios and laser operating conditions. As prepared Cu-CS colloids were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), to study copper complexation with the biopolymer. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to elucidate the nanomaterials' surface chemical composition and chemical speciation of the most representative elements. Transmission electron microscopy was used to characterize nanocolloids morphology. For all samples, ξ-potential measurements showed highly positive potentials, which could be correlated with the XPS information. The spectroscopic and morphological characterization herein presented outlines the characteristics of a technologically-relevant nanomaterial and provides evidence about the optimal synthesis parameters to produce almost monodisperse and properly-capped Cu nanophases, which combine in the same core-shell structure two renowned antibacterial agents.

Keywords: FTIR; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; chitosan; copper nanoparticles; laser ablation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; nor in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of laser-generated Cu nanoparticles (CuNPs) in the presence of different chitosan (CS) concentrations and corresponding size distribution histograms. Sizing could not be performed on 3 g/L CuNPs-CS nanocomposite, because of the massive presence of organic matrix.
Figure 2
Figure 2
C1s high-resolution regions of freshly-prepared CuNPs-CS nanocomposites synthetized at a CS concentration of: (a) no CS; (b) 0.01 g/L; (c) 0.1 g/L; (d) 1 g/L; (e) 3 g/L; (f) pure CS.
Figure 3
Figure 3
N1s high-resolution regions of freshly-prepared CuNPs-CS nanocomposites synthetized at CS concentration of: (a) 0.01 g/L; (b) 0.1 g/L; (c) 1 g/L; (d) 3 g/L; (e) pure CS.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cu2p3/2 high-resolution regions of freshly-prepared CuNPs-CS nanocomposites synthetized at CS concentrations of: (a) no CS; (b) 0.01 g/L; (c) 0.1 g/L; (d) 1 g/L; (e) 3 g/L.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of freshly-prepared CuNPs stabilized by CS (CuNPs@CS nanocomposites, “@” stands for “stabilized by”), synthetized at CS concentrations of: (a) 0.01 g/L; (b) 0.1 g/L; (c) 1 g/L; (d) 3 g/L.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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