Journal of Bionanoscience, vol.5, no.2, pp.130-137, 2011 (Scopus)
A new gelatin-hydroxyapatite (GHA) nanocomposite with different amounts of nanosilver (nAg) has been obtained by a colloidal chemical route. The AFM results revealed that the particle size of nAg particles was less than 20 nm. The morphology of the prepared hydroxyapatite (HA) powder was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The nanocomposite films were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, showing the interaction of the GHA with nAg. Mechanical properties and antimicrobial effects against the test microorganisms, bacteria E.coli and S. aureus and fungi C. albicans, A. niger and T. viridae, were also studied. The results obtained showed that the antimicrobial effects of the nanocomposite films as well as their mechanical properties like tensile strength and elongation at break are improved by increasing the amount of nano Ag from 10 to 50 ppm. Therefore, this material is a promising biomaterial to use in food, pharmaceutical and medical applications, etc. Copyright © 2011 American Scientific Publishers.