Abstract

ANTIMICROBIAL STUDIES OF NANOCHITOSAN/SODIUM ALGINATE/ MODIFIED RICE HUSK BEADS

Tamilarasi E. and Vijayalakshmi K.*

Abstract

The antimicrobial activity of ternary nanochitosan (NCS)/sodium alginate (SA)/modified rice husk beads synthesized in 1:2:1 ratio were evaluated against two bacterial and fungal strains. The prepared samples were characterized using various analytical techniques such as FT-IR, XRD and TGA studies. The effective binding of three polymeric materials namely nanochitosan, sodium alginate and modified rice husk was identified from FT-IR studies. The amorphous behavior and the higher thermal stability of the prepared NCS/SA/MRH beads were evident from XRD and TGA analysis respectively. The obtained results of bactericidal action of NCS/SA/MRH beads determined using zone of inhibition values on both bacterial and fungal strains reveals that the prepared beads possesses higher antimicrobial activity and hence this NCS/SA/MRH beads was found to be suggested as the promising material for biomedical applications.

Keywords: nanochitosan, sodium alginate, modified rice husk, bacteria, fungi.