Immobilization of chitosan gel with cross-linking reagent on PNIPAAm gel/PP nonwoven composites surface

This study was to immobilize chitosan (CS), which is a biodegradable and antibacterial polymer, on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) gel/polypropylene (PP) nonwoven composites surface for wound dressing applications. PP nonwoven has been extensively used due to its porosity, allowing ventilation, high surface area and excellent mechanical properties. However, the hydrophobic surface of PP nonwoven limits its applications; in this study, we used the plasma-activation treatment and subsequently UV-light graft polymerization of NIPAAm gel to improve its hydrophilicity. Chitosan was immobilized onto PNIPAAm gel/PP nonwoven composites surface using the cross-linking agent, glutaraldehyde (GA). This complex was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicated that the wettability of the composite was improved after plasma treatment and photo-induced graft polymerization and chitosan was successfully immobilized onto the surface of PNIPAAm gel/PP nonwoven composites through cross-linking process. Finally, the preliminary result shows that chitosan hydrogels displayed antibacterial ability to Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (MTT) method indicated that the porous chitosan sponge exhibited good biocompatibility to fibroblast cells.