Design and development of a novel cellulose/γ-Fe2O3/Ag nanocomposite: a potential green catalyst and antibacterial agent

Abstract

A cellulose/γ-Fe₂O₃/Ag nanocomposite is synthesized and used as a catalyst for the synthesis of trisubstituted imidazoles and α-aminonitriles. This catalytic protocol is simple, the reaction yield is very high, and the reaction time is very short. The remarkable magnetic properties of the nanocomposite permit easy separation of the catalyst from the reaction mixture without considerable loss of catalytic activity. In addition, antibacterial properties of the nanocomposite are investigated. For this purpose, S. aureus as the representative of Gram-positive bacteria and E. coli as the representative of Gram-negative bacteria are evaluated. To study the morphology and characterization of the prepared nanocomposite, X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and thermal gravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis (TGA/DTA) are obtained.