Abstract

EXPLORING THE ANTIBACTERIAL PROPERTIES OF CHITOSAN-COATED COPPER OXIDE NANOCOMPOSITE-BASED GEL

Sr. Swapna Paul*

ABSTRACT

Pathogenic bacteria are responsible for the increase of infectious diseases throughout the world, and the development of next-generation drugs is severely hampered by the resistance of pathogenic microorganisms to drugs. Therefore, research is urgently focusing on the development of novel antimicrobial agents using biopolymers or drug-coated nanobiomaterials called nanoantibiotics. The CS -coated CuO NPs could be used to treat microbiological diseases. The zeta potential, particle size distribution, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible spectroscopy, FE-SEM and EDS were used to evaluate the green synthesised nanocomposite. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the nanocomposite against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria was determined by the broth dilution method. The optimised nanocomposite was used in the development of an antibacterial gel with different carbopol concentrations. The pH,viscosity, spreadability and extrudability of each formulation were also evaluated. Chitosan-coated copper oxide nanoparticles (CS -CuO) showed an absorption maximum in the visible region at 437nm. XRD data revealed characteristic diffraction patterns of the phases. The FE-SEM image of the synthesized nanocomposite showed spherical shape and size between 52.73nm and 64.45nm. The average particle size was 272.4±21.52nm. The poly dispersion index and zeta potential were 0.946 and 27±5.95 respectively. The optimized formulation showed acceptable physical properties in terms of color, homogeneity, consistency, spreadability and pH. The synthesized CS -CuO nanocomposite gel is effective in topical application and has antibacterial properties.

Keywords: Green synthesis, Nanocomposite, Chitosan Copper oxide,Antibacterial activity.