Development of biodegradable poly (vinyl alcohol) /chitosan cross linked membranes for antibacterial wound dressing applications

Abstract

In this study, poly vinyl alcohol/chitosan (PVA/Cs) membranes were developed via surface crosslinking technique for advanced wound dressing applications.Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FT-IR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis tools were conducted to illustrate the chemical structures and the morphological changes of the developed membranes.Moreover, the mechanical analysis also investigated using tensile testing machine.The obtained results showed that PVA/Cs cross linked membrane recorded maximum force of 46.2 N compared with 26.09 N for Cs, indicating that the crosslinking process improved the developed membrane.Besides, the hydrophilic character of the developed membranes was examined using water uptake studies and decreased from 187% and 142% recorded by native Cs and PVA, respectively to 115% for the cross linked membrane.Two different types of bacteria were used for studying the anti-bacterial activities of the developed cross linked membranes, namely gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli).The anti-bacterial activity of the developed cross linked membranes was augmented compared with native PVA and Cs membranes as the maximum inhibition (%) value increased from10 and 12% to 22 and 30% after crosslinking.Besides, the cross linked membranes exhibited better bio-degradability; moreover, the mechanical strength of the cross linked membranes showed good mechanical stability.The findings suggest that the cross linked PVA/Cs membranes could be efficiently applied as anti-bacterial and bio-degradable dressers for accelerating the wound healing process.