Green fabrication of chitosan/tragacanth gum bionanocomposite films having TiO 2 @Ag hybrid for bioactivity and antibacterial applications.

Common materials used in tissue engineering are not cost-effective and natural origin. Hence, we designed green, safe, and antibacterial bionanocomposite (bio-NC) films based on polysaccharides, chitosan (CS) and gum tragacanth (GT) for the bone tissue engineering. For this aim, different percentages of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO ₂ NPs) and green silver (Ag)-doped TiO ₂ NPs (TiO ₂ @Ag hybrid) were employed as nanofiller to improve the properties of the CS-GT film. Moreover, the physicochemical characteristics of the bio-NC films were examined with a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The FE-SEM images showed a rough surface for the CS-GT/TiO ₂ @Ag bio-NC films, and TEM images showed better dispersion of TiO ₂ @Ag hybrid than TiO ₂ NPs into the CS-GT matrix. Also, these bio-NC films were considered for the bioactivity test and the results showed formation of hydroxyapatite on the surface of the prepared bio-NC films. Furthermore, addition of GT led to an increase in the bioactivity of the CS-GT blend. Finally, antibacterial behavior of the prepared bio-NC films was investigated against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria with/without ultraviolet irradiation and the results indicated better antibacterial performance for the CS-GT/TiO ₂ @Ag bio-NC film (TiO ₂ :Ag = 1:1) under both conditions.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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