Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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The antibacterial activity of poly(vinyl chloride) membrane impregnated

with silver nanoparticles
Asmaa N. Al-Himeiry, Alaa H. Al-Fatlawi
Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Babylon, Hilla, Iraq

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study presents the main method of in situ reduction for the preparation of Poly(vinyl chloride)
Available online xxxx coated membrane with silver nanoparticles by using cloves aromaticum extract as a reducing and stabi-
lizing agent. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, and UV–Vis spectroscopy were used
Keywords: to analyze the structure and grain size of the produced particles. SEM study was appeared that no signif-
Poly(vinyl chloride) icant difference in the morphology of uncoated and coated membranes. However, some substance on the
Microfiltration membrane surface of the Poly(vinyl chloride) coated membranes was recognized as AgNPS. The antimicrobial activ-
AgNPs
ity of coated membrane and AgNP solution was investigated against Escherichia Coli (E. coli) by using
Cloves aromaticum extract
Nanotechnology
disk diffusion and well diffusion test. As a result AgNP have high inhibition zones for each concentration.
Antibacterial activity Copyright Ó 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
ence on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Nanomaterials

1. Introduction accessible at low evaluated rates; therefore, an ecologically and

Microbial pollution is the main sources of drinking water con-
tamination in developing nations. Water satisfaction is essential
to about a half-dozen infectious diseasesViruses, bacteria, proto-
zoa, and larvae can all cause these diseases. Fungi, algae, rotifers,
and crustaceans were some of the other microorganisms found in
the water. When considering problems with drinking-water treat-
ment [13,14]. Nanotechnology is a new and rapidly developing
field that has demonstrated remarkable breakthrough develop-
ments in a number of situations of sciences, including physics,
chemistry, biology, and engineering, and its significance varies
depending on the field [10]. One of the most recent applications
is the introduction of nanoparticles into polymeric membranes to
improve membrane performance such as permeability, specificity,
strength, and hydrophobicity, [12]. The combination of membrane
filtration with Nano-antibacterial silver’s capacity is a solution for
improving the performance of the microfiltration process [6].
Chemical and physical methods for producing silver nanoparticles
have a number of drawbacks, including high costs and the use of
toxic, dangerous chemicals, as well as possible environmental
and biological hazards. For its compelling usage, silver nanoparti-
cles must be blended in a human-friendly manner and be
E-mail address: alfatlawi-alaa@uobabylon.edu.iq (A.H. Al-Fatlawi)
financially viable method to integrating these nanoparticles is
needed [6,7].
Several mechanisms for silver nanoparticles’ antibacterial prop-
erties have been identified up to this point: (1) Nanoparticle
attachment to the surface changes the membrane’s characteristics.
AgNP has been shown to breakdown lipopolysaccharide molecules,
produce ‘‘pits” inside the membrane, and induce significant
increases in membrane permeability; (2) silver nanoparticles pen-
etrating inside bacterial cell, causing DNA damage; (3) breakdown
of nAg release antimicrobial Ag ions [2,3,9].The primary goal of this
research is to investigate at the antibacterial activity of PVC mem-
branes impregnated with silver nanoparticles that were made
using a biological approach.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Material
PVC microfiltration membrane was prepared in Chemical
Department/University of Technology. E. coli inoculum was
obtained from the Microbiology Lab/Collage of Science/Babylon
University, silver nitrate (AgNO3), clove powder, nutrient agar,
double distilled water was used throughout the experiments.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.08.277
2214-7853/Copyright Ó 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Nanomaterials

Please cite this article as: A.N. Al-Himeiry and A.H. Al-Fatlawi, The antibacterial activity of poly(vinyl chloride) membrane impregnated with silver
nanoparticles, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.08.277
A.N. Al-Himeiry and A.H. Al-Fatlawi
2.2. Preparation of clove extract
The Nano-silver is made from aqueous extracts of the cloves
aromaticum plant, as shown in Fig. 1. The mixture was filtered
through Whitman No.1 filter paper after drying and grinding
2.5 gm of cloves aromaticum powder in 150 ml deionized water.
Typical reaction mixtures contained the resulting precipitate,
which was re-suspended and boiled for 30 min at 90 °C with con-
tinual stirring using a magnetic stirrer in 50 ml of deionized water.
The extract was centrifuged for 5 min at 1200 rpm and then cooled
to room temperature the final product was maintained at 4 °C (see
Fig. 2).
2.3. Preparation coating membrane with AgNPs
The PVC membrane was submerged in 7.5 ml of 0.003 M AgNO3
solution (the reaction mixture was incubated in dark to avoid the
photo activation of nitrate under static conditions). About 1 ml of
clove extract was taken in a 100 ml beaker containing 41.5 ml
deionized water and stirred for 30 min with final pH was adjusted
to 6.0 and then the embedded membrane with the remaining silver
nitrate (AgNO3) was added to the mixture. After the addition of the
reaction mixture by stirring at 70 °C for 20 min. The membrane
was incubated for 24 h with constant stirring.
3. Characterization of silver nanoparticles
The increased prevalence of nanotechnology in different
research fields has necessitated the adoption of analytical tech-
niques for nanoparticle analysis and characterization.
3.1. UV–Vis spectroscopy
The most convenient and practical approach for detecting
Nano-silver is UV–visible spectroscopy, as the typical peak in the
385–450 nm range predicts the existence of nanoparticles [1].
3.2. X-ray diffraction
The structural image of the synthesized nanoparticles and the
size of the nanoparticles are obtained using an X-ray diffraction
pattern [1]. With wavelengths ranging from 10 to 103 nm, X-rays
have a wave nature. The electromagnetic wave can be thought of
as photons or light quanta, according to quantum theory [11].
Fig. 1. dry cloves aromaticum plant.
2
Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 2. UV–Vis absorption spectrum of silver nanoparticles obtained.
3.3. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) is a common and easy-to-
use imaging method for exposing a sample’s surface topography
[4]. SEM is a surface imaging method capable of resolving a wide
range of particle sizes, size distributions, nanomaterial shapes,
and the surface morphology of synthetic particles at the micro
and nano scales (Al-Fatlawi 2019**).
4. Antibacterial activity
4.1. Well diffusion method
AgNPs prepared from clove aromaticum plant extract was
investigated against pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli).
A sterile environment was used to pour 20 ml of nutritional agar
media into sterilized Petri plates. Then, using sterile cotton swabs,
1 ml of synthetic feed with (333*103) E. coli concentrations was
streaked on the nutrient agar plates and dispersed equally. Agar
wells with an 8 mm diameter were created using a sterilized borer.
A micropipette was used to inject a sample of nanoparticles solu-
tion into the wells (50 l, 75 l, and 100 l). After that, the plates were
kept at 37 °C for another 24 h before being examined for zones of
inhibition. The inhibitory zone was measured and reported in
millimetres.
4.2. Disk diffusion method
In terms of antimicrobial drugs that can be evaluated, the disk
diffusion method is one of the most flexible susceptibility testing
methods, [8]. Using the disk diffusion method to isolate Escherichia
coli (gram-negative bacterium). In a sterile atmosphere, nutrient
agar was placed into a petri plate and allowed to solidify. After
that, 1 ml of synthetic feed with E. coli concentrations of
(1.5*108) was streaked over nutrient agar plates and distributed
uniformly with sterile cotton swabs, followed with three circular
sterilized pieces of the coated and one of the uncoated membrane.
The uncoated membranes were used as controls. At 37 °C, the
plates were incubated upside down for 24 h. After 24 h, the inhibi-
tion ring created around the membrane served as a sign of antibac-
terial activity, and the diameter of the inhibition zone around the
membrane was measured.
A.N. Al-Himeiry and A.H. Al-Fatlawi
Fig. 3. Structure of coated and uncouted Polyvinyl chloride obtained by SEM.
Fig. 4. XRD patterns of the AgNPs on the coated membrane for 2 theta angles between 30° and 80°.
5. Results and discussion
5.1. Characterization
One of the most extensively utilized techniques for structural
characterization of silver nanoparticles is UV–visible spectroscopy.
The pale yellow–brown silver colloids’ absorption spectra (Fig. 3)
revealed a surface plasmon absorption band with a maximum of
435 nm.
Micrographs revealed the membranes’ Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
structure. The morphology of the uncoated and coated membranes
did not appear to differ much. However, a substance on the surface
of the coated membranes was recognized as AgNPS. The presence
of silver on PVC membranes had no effect on the pore structure
of the membranes’ original structure. Fig. 4 shows the SEM micro-
graphs of the uncoated and coated membrane.
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The XRD spectra for the AgNPs coating are shown in Fig. 5. X-ray
spectroscopy is commonly utilized in electron microscopes for
qualitative and quantitative chemical investigation, [5]. The
diffraction pattern shows conventional Bragg peaks at 38.2, 44.4,
64.9, and 78.0. This diffraction pattern corresponds to the four
diffraction peaks (1 1 1), (2 0 0), (2 2 0), and (3 1 1), which corre-
spond to the face-centredcubic (fcc) structure of silver shown at
a 2 angle. The peaks revealed the presence of AgNPs on the coated
membranes [15].
5.2. Antibacterial activity
5.2.1. Well diffusion method
The silver nanoparticles prepared by natural plants extract was
revealed antimicrobial properties. Table 1 shows the diameter of
inhibition zones surrounding each well (50, 100 and 150) ml. As
A.N. Al-Himeiry and A.H. Al-Fatlawi
Fig. 5. antibacterial activity: a. disk diffusion test, b. well difusion test.
Table 1
Zone of inhibition of silver nanoparticles synthesized by natural plant extracts against
E. coli.
Silver nanoparticle samples, ml Zone of inhibition (mm) against E. coli
50 17
100 18
150 20
demonstrated in Fig. 5a, 150 ml of silver nanoparticles had the max-
imum antibacterial activity against E. coli 20 mm, while 50 ml had
the lowest antimicrobial activity 17 mm.
5.2.2. Disk diffusion method
The results of disk diffusion test are shown in Fig. 5b. There was,
however, a significant zone of inhibition around three pieces of
impregnated membrane with three different AgNO3 concentra-
tions (0.001, 0.002 and 0.003) M. The largest zone of inhibition
10 mm resulted in the highest AgNO3 concentration. While, the
zone of inhibition with the shortest diameter 6 mm was found in
the lowest AgNO3 concentration. The inhibition zone on a piece
of coated membrane with 0.002 M AgNO3 concentration is 9 mm.
A significant zone of inhibition surrounded impregnated mem-
branes, indicating antibacterial activity.
6. Conclusions
Simple and cost effective way was repoted for synthesis of
AgNPs by using natural clove as extruct. In comparison to other
synthesis procedures, the reduction time is quite small (a few min-
utes rather than hours). A significant zone of inhibition around
impregnated membranes indicated antibacterial activity. The lar-
gest zone of inhibition 10 mm resulted in the highest AgNO3 con-
centration (0.003)M. From well diffusion method antibacterial
activity against E. coli was increased with amount of silver
nanoparticles. The results were suggusted that embeded PVC
microfiltration membrane can be used as inhibitors in microorgan-
isms making them applicale to water filtration and antimicrobial
control system.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Asmaa N. Al-Himeiry: Writing – original draft, Software,
Validation, Writing - review & editing, Investigation.
Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Alaa H. Al-Fatlawi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Visualization,
Supervision.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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