Production of Well-Dispersed Aqueous Cross-Linked Chitosan-Based Nanomaterials as Alternative Antimicrobial Approach

Abstract

In the current study, chitosan was extracted by deacetylation of chitin, which is extracted from shrimp shell. chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) were prepared by ionotropic gelation technique. chitosan/tripolyphosphate ratio (CS:TPP) was kept at 3:1 to prepare CSNPs. chitosan/silver nanocomposite (CS/AgNCs) were prepared by incorporating silver nanoparticles into CSNPs. The quality of the prepared nanocomposite was evaluated by infrared spectroscopy, UV–Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and antibacterial activity. Results showed that chitosan/silver nanocomposite in which, both chitosan and silver are in nanoscale was successfully prepared for the first time in a well-dispersed aqueous form. Whereas CSNPs act as a host material to form the nanocomposite unlike the previously prepared forms of chitosan–silver nanocomposites, that used chitosan bulk as host materials and the dispersion medium was slightly acidic. Moreover, results revealed that the antibacterial activity of CSNPs was significantly enhanced after incorporating trace amount of silver nanoparticles (0.535% w/w AgNPs/CSNPs).