IN SITU SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND IN VITRO BIOACTIVITY OF CHITOSAN HYDROXYAPATITE COMPOSITE DOPED WITH ZINC

Abstract

The objective of this work is to report the synthesis, characterization and in vitro response of a novel zinc doped chitosan-hydroxyapatite composite. For this reason hydroxyapatite (HA), zinc doped HA, chitosan-hydroxyapatite composite and the novel zinc doped chitosan-hydroxyapatite composite were synthesised via in situ co-precipitation method. The effects of zinc and chitosan incorporation on the structural properties of the samples were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Bioactivity studies of the samples in simulated body fluid (SBF) and antimicrobial activity against E. coli were carried out. The incorporation of zinc and chitosan into the lattice of the HA influenced the crystallinity, crystallite size and lattice parameters of the HA. The chemical composition of the novel zinc doped chitosan-HA composite is found to have resemblance to that of bone mineral. The novel zinc doped chitosan-HA showed improved bioactivity in SBF over other samples. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images of the novel composite material also showed a good apatite forming ability.  The novel composite material showed substantial antimicrobial effects on the growth of the E. coli bacteria. Keywords: hydroxyapatite, chitosan, composite, bioactivity, antimicrobial