Cellulose acetate/chitosan/TiO2 composite microfibers: Fabrication, characterization and antibacterial activity

Chitosan is a natural, biodegradable polymer mostly found in insects and shelled organisms. In this study, snail shells of Cornu aspersum were used to get chitosan and spun with cellulose acetate using an electro-spraying technique. Similarly, TiO2 has also gained a lot of attention due to its properties of photocatalysis as well as antibacterial activities. In this study, cellulose acetate/chitosan/TiO2 (CA/C/T) and without TiO2 (CA/C) composite solutions were spun by electrospinning technique. The obtained microfibers were characterized using FTIR, which shows successful synthesis of composite fiber, while XRD analysis showed nanoparticles are 4.67 nm in size with a rutile crystalline structure. Moreover, thermostability was measured using thermogravimetric analysis showed composite material is stable till 360 degrees C. The morphology and elemental analysis were analyzed by SEM-EDS. The microfibers have uniform morphology, and EDS analysis showed the presence of TiO2 in micro- fibers. Moreover, antibacterial activity of (CA/C5/T) was measured under visible light on both gram-positive and gram-negative strains of bacteria (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus). We found that fabricated micro- fibers have antibacterial activity with a 5 % chitosan concentration with a log difference of 2.77 for E. coli and 2.17 for Staphylococcus aureus. However, this bacterial inhibition activity was observed very high with the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles. These results suggest that prepared (CA/C5/T) composite microfibers have significant potential for use in coating of antimicrobial surfaces, wound healing dressings and water purification systems. This study presents an innovative and ecofriendly approach to preparing microfibers with enhanced antibacterial efficacy.