TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterization and potential applications of gamma irradiated chitosan and its blends with poly(vinyl alcohol)
AU - Bano, Ijaz
AU - Ghauri, Muhammad Afzal
AU - Yasin, Tariq
AU - Huang, Qingrong
AU - Palaparthi, Annie D.Souza
N1 - Funding Information: Ijaz Bano gratefully acknowledges the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan for the scholarship support to carry out this study. Authors are grateful to Mr. Atif Islam for his technical suggestions whenever required. Authors are highly thankful to Ms. Ayesha Ihsan for SEM images. We are grateful to Dr. R. W. Briddon for assisting with improving the language in the manuscript. Ms. Nasrin Akhtar is acknowledged for proof reading of the manuscript.
PY - 2014/4
Y1 - 2014/4
N2 - Naturally available chitosan (CHI), of high molecular weight, results in reduced efficiency of these polymers for antibacterial activity. In this regard, irradiation is a widely used method for achieving reduction in molecular weight of polymers, which may improve some of its characteristics. Chitosan was extracted from crab shells and degraded by gamma radiations. Effect of radiation dose on chitosan was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Furthermore, the irradiated chitosan was blended with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and crosslinked with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) into membranes. The membranes were found to be smooth, transparent and macroporous in structure, exhibiting high tensile strength (TS: 27-47. MPa) and elongation at break (EB: 292.6-407.3%). The effect of molecular weight of chitosan and chitosan blends on antibacterial activity was determined. Irradiated low molecular weight chitosan and membranes showed strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.
AB - Naturally available chitosan (CHI), of high molecular weight, results in reduced efficiency of these polymers for antibacterial activity. In this regard, irradiation is a widely used method for achieving reduction in molecular weight of polymers, which may improve some of its characteristics. Chitosan was extracted from crab shells and degraded by gamma radiations. Effect of radiation dose on chitosan was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Furthermore, the irradiated chitosan was blended with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and crosslinked with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) into membranes. The membranes were found to be smooth, transparent and macroporous in structure, exhibiting high tensile strength (TS: 27-47. MPa) and elongation at break (EB: 292.6-407.3%). The effect of molecular weight of chitosan and chitosan blends on antibacterial activity was determined. Irradiated low molecular weight chitosan and membranes showed strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.
KW - Antibacterial activity
KW - Chitosan
KW - Molecular weight
KW - Radiations
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2014.01.015
DO - 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2014.01.015
M3 - Article
C2 - 24418341
SN - 0141-8130
VL - 65
SP - 81
EP - 88
JO - International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
JF - International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
ER -