Preparation and application of sulfur nanoparticles dispersed onto soft matrices

Abstract

Sulfur nanoparticles (SNPs) were synthesized electrochemically and chemically by reduction of sodium thiosulfate and acid catalyzed precipitation of sodium thiosulfate in presence citry trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) respectively. Conductive polymer Polyaniline (PANI) and PANI-SNPs nanocomposite were also synthesized by electrochemically and chemically. The synthesized S NPs, PANI and S NPs- PANI nanocomposite were characterized by X-ray diffraction spectrometer (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and UV visible spectroscopic (UV) method. Experimental results showed that the particle size of synthesized SNPs in both methods was bellow 100 nm. Results also show that electrochemically synthesized S NPs (55 nm) has lower particle size than that of chemically synthesized S NPs (65 nm). Moreover, electrochemically synthesized PANI and S NPs- PANI nanocomposite showed more uniform, small,and spherical surface morphology than chemically synthesized PANI and S NPs-PANI nanocomposite. N-isopropyl acryl amide (NIPA) gel and SNPs-NIPA gel were also synthesized and characterized by XRD, SEM and EDS methods. XRD results showed that NIPA and SNPs-NIPA gel both were semicrystalline nature. SEM image showed that the gel had porous structure with three dimensional networks which made the gel ability to act as a drug carrier. SNPs-NIPA gel was temperature-sensitive and release SNPs from NIPA gel matrices with increased temperature (25-40)0C. Additionally, antibacterial and antifungal test were done by synthesized SNPs, PANI and PANI- SNPs nanocomposite. The obtained results showed that PANI-SNPs nanocomposite enhanced the antibacterial and antifungal activity than SNPs and PANI. Keywords: Sulfur Nanoparticles, Polyaniline, N-isopropyl acryl amide gel, Nanocomposite, Antibacterial Activity, Antifungal Activity