Preparing natural biocomposites of N-quaternary chitosan with antibacterial activity to reduce consumption of antibacterial drugs.

In this work, in order to prepare biocomposites of ciprofloxacin- montmorillonite/N,N,N-triethyl chitosan (CMC/TEC and CMC׳/TEC), ciprofloxacin was intercalated into the Na+-montmorillonite layers in two different pHs and coated with N,N,N-triethyl chitosan. XRD and FT-IR data demonstrated that ciprofloxacin (CIP) diffused among the layers of montmorillonite. The prepared biocomposites were further characterised by TG, SEM, BET, DSC, and disk diffusion method to investigate antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus as well. Coated composites with N,N,N-triethyl chitosan possessed efficiency of the drug encapsulation, and controlled the release of drug from the biocomposites in comparison with composites without N,N,N-triethyl chitosan. Study of antibacterial activities of two biocomposites of CMC1/TEC and CMC2/TEC with lower release rates and lower concentrations of CIP than other biocomposites revealed that likely N,N,N-triethyl chitosan could considerably help to reduce the consumption of ciprofloxacin. By doing more researches on other bacterial strains and performing advanced tests on our own biocomposites, N,N,N-triethyl chitosan can probably be proved as a suitable candidate for a substitute in biomedical activities.