Preparation of chitosan/different organomodified clay polymer nanocomposites: studies on morphological, swelling, thermal stability and anti-bacterial properties

In the current study, chitosan films were prepared by dispersing different commercially-modified nanoclays, such as C-Na, C-10A, C-15A, C-30B, and C-93A. The exfoliation and morphology were studied using XRD and SEM. The C-15A, C-30B and C-93A nanoclays/Cts BNCs (Bionanocomposites) showed very good uniform exfoliation compared to that of other clays. The thermal analyses were evaluated using DSC and TGA. These results also confirmed that because of exfoliation, the thermal properties were improved in the case of C-15A, C-30B and C-93A nanoclays/Cts BNCs. The swelling capacity of a chitosan/clay films were studied. Increasing the chitosan content in the film increased the swelling capacity significantly; the decreasing order of swelling capacity of Cts/Clay films is in accordance with the decrease in clay content. Greater swelling capacity is shown by films Cts, C-Na and C-10A is because of the presence of greater hydrophilic agencies in the film makeup, which assist in improving the swelling characteristics of the films. The antibacterial activities of Cts/clay were also investigated against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria (E. coli and S. aureus) according to the zone of inhibition in the disc diffusion method.