Development of PVA/sodium alginate incorporated with histidine capped silver nanoparticles for food packaging application

Packaging is a growing field of interest, and the use of nanotechnology is accelerating its expansion. The study reports the fabrication of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blended sodium alginate (SA) and incorporated with different ratios of histidine‐capped silver (H‐AgNPs) nanoparticle films. Fabrication of PVA/SA/H‐AgNPs films was confirmed with the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band denoted AgNPs presence between 400 and 420 nm measured by UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy. The characteristics of the polymeric biocomposite films were significantly altered by different ratios of AgNPs. The interaction of PVA/SA and PVA/SA with AgNPs was analyzed by using FT‐IR analysis. The degree of crystallinity was increased upon increasing the concentration of H‐AgNPs as confirmed by XRD measurements. The homogeneity of dispersion and surface morphology of samples were studied by FESEM. The addition of H‐AgNPs in the polymeric film increased the surface roughness of the polymeric film confirmed by AFM analysis. The contact angle of the PVA/SA blend matrix was observed to be 46.97°, and with the incorporation of AgNPs ranging from 3%, 5%, and 7% to the blend matrix, the contact angle of the nanocomposite films in increasing hydrophobic order was 60.53°, 83.57°, and 96.20°, respectively. The incorporation of AgNPs also demonstrates that the PVA/SA blend matrix has desirable thermal stability. The improved qualities were due to H bonding between PVA, SA, and H‐AgNPs, in which molecules contact strongly with one another. Furthermore, the PVA/SA/H‐AgNPs showed significant antibacterial activity against both Gram‐positive (G+) strains (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram‐negative (G−) strains (Escherichia coli) bacterial infections. The findings of this research indicate that the PVA/SA/H‐AgNPs fabricated composite films considerable for applications in food packaging.