Abstract
Abstract. This paper discusses the synthesis of silver nanoparticles to impart antimicrobial properties to biodegradable packaging materials. Increased interest in such materials is due to the need to reduce the environmental damage caused by traditional polymer packaging and simultaneously ensure the microbiological safety of food products. Silver nanoparticles synthesized by chemical reduction using glucose as a reducing agent and polyvinyl alcohol as a stabilizer were used as an antimicrobial agent. The effect of the concentrations of the reagents used and the pH of the medium on the synthesis of silver nanoparticles was studied. The resulting hydrosols were studied using a JSM-6490LA scanning electron microscope. Optimum synthesis conditions were established experimentally, and the resulting silver nanoparticles were characterized using spectrophotometry, electron and atomic force microscopy. It was found that the size of the nanoparticles depends on the concentration of the reagents and ranges from 1 to 80 nm. Energy dispersive analysis showed that the samples under study show an increase in silver nanoparticles with increasing concentration from 0.0001M to 0.0005M. The proposed method allows for effective imparting bactericidal properties to packaging biomaterials without violating their physicochemical structure. The method is environmentally friendly, technologically simple and cost-effective, which makes it promising for use in the food industry.