Synthesis, characterization and antibacterial activity of polyaniline/Pt–Pd nanocomposite

• New method of synthesizing polyaniline/Pt–Pd nanocomposite.
• Nano size of the composite characterized by HR-SEM and HR-TEM.
• Improved antibacterial activity of polyaniline/Pt–Pd nanocomposite than polyaniline/Pt nanocomposite and pristine polyaniline.

Pt colloid and Pt–Pd colloid, pristine polyaniline, polyaniline/Pt nanocomposite and polyaniline/Pt–Pd nanocomposite were synthesized by simple chemical method. They were characterized by UV–Vis, FT-IR, XRD, TGA, SEM, HR-SEM and HR-TEM with EDAX techniques. The results proved that there is a strong interaction between metal nanoparticles (Pt–Pd) and polyaniline chains. This interaction creates changes in the backbone chain of polyaniline/Pt–Pd nanocomposite when compared to pristine polyaniline. The synthesized materials were evaluated for antibacterial activity, minimal inhibitory concentration and minimal bactericidal concentration. The results indicated that the nanocomposites exhibited improved antibacterial activity when compared to pristine polyaniline and individual metal colloids. This is the first report on the chemical synthesis of polyaniline/Pt–Pd nanocomposite, which exhibits antibacterial activity at micro molar concentration levels.

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