Facile fabrication of polysaccharide nanocomposites using ionic gelation method

Abstract

Polysaccharide-based nanomaterials with significant biocompatibility and physiochemical features have been widely analyzed in modern biomedical nanotechnology. Chitosan-coating is an advantageous procedure to provide several pharmacological characteristics of chitosan on the reinforcement. Here, we fabricated polysaccharide nanocomposites using the facile ionic gelation method and sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) cross-linker. The polysaccharide nanocomposites comprised natural cellulose and chitosan as reinforcement and coating agents, respectively. From the image of the scanning electron microscope, the nanocomposites indicated almost spherical dimensions with sizes below 60 nm. Results from X-ray powder diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy showed multifunctional properties of the nanocomposites related to both cellulose and chitosan. Therefore, the ionic gelation method is potentially appropriate to synthesize the polysaccharide nanocomposites for medically-related applications.