Synthesis and biological activities of polymer–thorium (IV) nanocomposites

In this investigation radical induced copolymerization reaction of vinylpyridine (VP)‐Thorium (Th(IV)) complex with pure methylmethacrylate in dimethylsulfoxide using azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator led to formation of polymer metal composite. The prepared polymer composite was characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope and X‐ray diffraction. FT‐IR results showed that the metal ion is coordinated via the nitrogen of VP. The solubility of Th(IV) complex and the formed polymer composite in polar and non‐polar solvents was also tested. However, the conductivity measurements revealed nonelectrolytic nature of the complex. Moreover, the thermal properties of the prepared composite and their antitumor and antimicrobial activities were discussed. Additionally, in this work not only the nanocomposite as bulky materials (powder) but thin films also were deposited utilizing electrospray deposition technique. The produced films have been reduced growth of gram‐negative Escherichia coli by ∼99.1%. The morphology of the prepared film was studied by SEM and atomic force microscopy. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:1939–1950, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers