Full polysaccharide crosslinked-chitosan and silver nano composites,for use as an antibacterial membrane

Full polysaccharide crosslinked-chitosan membranes were prepared by crosslinking of chitosan with chitosan dialdehyde followed by reduction with sodium borohydride. Partially oxidized chitosan, generated from periodate oxidation of chitosan, was used as a crosslinker. The modulus values and elongation at break were increased with increasing the crosslinker weight ratio. The rheological measurements showed that depolymerization of chitosan can take place rapidly in the presence of the oxidizing agent. The weight reduction of crosslinked-chitosan membrane after 12 h, at pH = 4 and pH = 2 was found to be 85.0% and 90.0%, respectively. The structure of the crosslinked-chitosan and the silver nanocomposite were confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals the presence of well-separated Ag nanoparticles with diameters in the range of 4–10 nm. The silver ion loading increases with increasing the silver ion concentration, and decreasing the crosslink density. The MBC/MIC ratio of 2.0, 2.0, and 1.0 was achieved for E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa, respectively.