ZnO-containing nanocomposites produced from Mentha pulegium L. of a new HEMA-based methacrylate copolymer: improvement the thermal and antimicrobial effect

In this study, firstly, (2-oxo-2-(3,4,5-trifluoroanilino)-ethyl-2-methylprop-2-enoate) FAOEME, a methacrylate monomer with arylamide side group containing three fluorine atoms in the side branch, was synthesized. Poly(HEMA-co-FAOEME) was obtained due to radical copolymerization of FAOEME with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). Structural characterization of its copolymer with FAOEME and HEMA was performed by spectroscopy methods such as FTIR, 1 H, and 13 C-NMR. Biosynthesis of ZnO nanoparticles was carried out using Mentha Plegium L. extract. Three nanocomposites of poly(HEMA-co-FAOEME) containing biosynthesized ZnO nanoparticles were produced by hydrothermal technique, which is an environmentally friendly method. The formation of Poly(HEMA-co-FAOEME)/ZnO nanocomposites and the structural changes of the components was elucidated by SEM, XRD, and FTIR techniques. The effect of ZnO nanoparticles on the thermal properties of Poly(HEMA-co-FAOEME) was investigated by TGA and DSC techniques. The results showed that ZnO nanoparticles significantly increased the thermal stability and glass transition temperature (Tg) of the matrix (poly(HEMA-co-FAOEME). The antimicrobial properties of the materials were determined by the disk diffusion method using five different bacteria and one yeast cell. It was observed that the nanocomposites showed activity against all pathogens except one bacterial species, and the source of the activity was ZnO nanoparticles.