Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: A new method is proposed for the preparation of Ag-containing organic and carbon composite materials based on natural polymers – chitosan, ethanol lignin, and cellulose aerogel – by introducing silver nitrate into a suspension of polymer mixtures at the initial stage of biocomposite synthesis. The biocomposites have a sponge-like structure and are predominantly macroporous. Chitosan–cellulose composites exhibit a lower density (0.041–0.043 g/cm³) than chitosan–lignin samples (0.058–0.061 g/cm³). Infrared spectroscopy confirmed the involvement of cellulose and ethanol lignin in the formation of the chitosan–polymer matrix through additional hydrogen bonding between the amino groups of chitosan and the OH groups of the polymers. The silver introduced into the chitosan–cellulose composite is distributed over its surface in the form of metallic particles 50–70 µm in size. However, in the case of the chitosan–lignin composite, no metallic silver particles are observed, likely due to stronger interactions between silver ions and lignin. Carbonization of the Ag-containing chitosan–lignin and chitosan–cellulose biocomposites at 800 °C yielded porous carbon composites with specific surface areas of 291 m²/g and 399 m²/g, respectively. Partial reduction of silver ions introduced into the chitosan–cellulose biocomposite to metallic Ag(0) occurs already at the synthesis stage and is fully completed at 800 °C. Carbothermal reduction of silver ions to metallic silver nanoparticles and aggregated submicron-sized silver particles in the chitosan–lignin matrix occurs only upon high-temperature treatment.
Source: chemistry of plant raw material
Language: English
Subfield: Biomaterials
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7214774984