Reusable ternary PVA films containing bacterial cellulose fibers and ε-polylysine with improved mechanical and antibacterial properties

Abstract

The combination of high mechanical properties, antibacterial activity and a green synthesis of the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) based films remains challenging. This study presents a ternary system of PVA films containing bacterial cellulose (BC) and epsilon-polylysine (ε-PL) by a green solution casting method. The prepared composite films showed more than 99% antibacterial properties against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria. Moreover, the films were collected after a single use and were reused twice, which still exhibited strong antibacterial activity. The films showed thermal stability and higher mechanical properties as compared to pure PVA films. In addition, the cytotoxicity of the films was evaluated by MTT assay against NIH 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells. The results showed no toxicity of the films towards tested cells. We believe that these antibacterial films may find applications in active food packaging and biomedical fields.