Abstract:
SCOBY Bacterial Cellulose (BC) is a biocompatible polymer comprising various properties including purity, mechanical strength, water absorptivity, and non-toxicity which is suitable for wound dressing application. In this study, SCOBY BC/hydrolyzed collagen (HC) blend films at the BC:HC wt% ratios of 90:10, 80:20, and 70:30 in the presence of 5 wt% glycerol as a plasticizer were prepared by mechanical blending and casting. Finally, dried films were coated with 1%(w/v) acidic chitosan solution, resulting in flexible and resilient films. Characterizations of chitosan coated blend films were carried out using FTIR, SEM and TGA analyses. The finding results showed that chitosan layer adhered firmly onto BC surface due to intermolecular hydrogen bonding interaction. The antibacterial activity test revealed that chitosan coated BC/HC films exhibited antibacterial activity. Moreover, the composite film was loaded with ascorbic acid in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 7.4) by immersion for 12 h. Cumulative release of ascorbic acid was investigated using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The results showed that composite films not only preserved the active ascorbic acid but also controlled the releasing performance of ascorbic acid. Therefore, it could be concluded that the designed composite films are novel for active wound dressing application.