Preparation, characterization and antimicrobial property of ag+- nano Chitosan/ZSM-5: novel Hybrid Biocomposites

Binary hybrids of chitosan-zeolite have many interesting applications in separation and bacteriostatic activity.
Template free ZSM-5 zeolite was synthesized by hydrothermal method, physical hydrogels of nano chitosan in the colloidal domain were obtained in the absence of toxic organic solvent and then nano chitosan/ZSM-5 hybrid composites with nano chitosan contents of 0.35%, 3.5%, 35% wt.% were prepared. The as prepared hybrid composites were ion-exchanged with Ag cations.
XRD and FT-IR results revealed a good crystalinity of as synthesized template frees ZSM-5 with BET surface area of 307 m2g-1. Presence of chitosan in composites was confirmed by XRD patterns and FT-IR spectroscopic analysis, the chitosan content in composite was obtained with TG analysis. SEM analysis of composites shows that chitosan particles were dispersed within the nanometer scale. The antimicrobial activity of different samples was investigated and the results showed that the Ag+exchanged samples have the highest antibacterial properties. Cancer cell line A549 cell line were cultured in designated medium treated with Ag+exchanged samples at the concentration of 0.01 to 0.5 mg/ml. After 24 and 48 hours incubation, the efficacy of Ag+exchanged samples to treat cancer cell lines were measured by means of cell viability test via MTT assay. Concentrations of 0.05 and 0.1 mg/ml of Ag+exchanged samples induced a very low toxicity.
These hybrid composite materials have potential applications on tissue engineering and antimicrobial food packaging.