Production of bionanocomposites based on poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) using modified TiO2 nanoparticles with citric acid and ascorbic acid and study of their physicochemical properties

Abstract

Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) is a biocompatible, biodegradable, and hydrophilic polymer that has many applications in different fields. Reinforced PVP nanocomposites (NCs) containing titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) were prepared through solution casting method. To achieve better distribution of NPs in the polymeric bed, surface modification of NPs is essential. Citric acid (CA) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) (VC) biomolecules were used as surface modifiers. Modified TiO₂ NPs were incorporated in the PVP bed. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transforms infrared, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and field-emission scanning electron microscopy were used to explore the resulted PVP/TiO₂–CA–VC NCs. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to investigate thermal stability of PVP/TiO₂–CA–VC NCs. TEM results showed that modified NPs were well distributed in the biopolymeric bed. TGA confirmed that thermal stability of NCs has been improved.