Title
Chitosan/silk fibroin/zinc oxide nanocomposite as a sustainable andantimicrobial biomaterial
Authors
AHMED SALAMA

Received March 5, 2017
Published Volume 52 Issue 9-10 October-December
Keywords chitosan, silk, zinc oxide, nanocomposite, antibacterial material

Abstract
In the current study, a chitosan/silk fibroin blend was developed as a sustainable, cost-effective and bioactive material for embedding zinc oxide nanoparticles. Zinc oxide nanoparticles with the diameter less than 10 nm and uniform size distribution were examined with different characterization tools. The chitosan/silk fibroin/zinc oxide nanocomposite exhibited the advantage of broad antibacterial activities against bacteria. The hydrophilicity and swellability were significantly improved after the blending of chitosan and zinc oxide. The results exhibited that the chitosan/silk f ibroin/zinc oxide, a disinfection nanocomposite for effective inhibition of bacterial growth, holds great promise for biomedical applications, especially in wound dressing.