Layer-by-layer hyaluronic acid/chitosan polyelectrolyte coated mesoporous silica nanoparticles as pH-responsive nanocontainers for optical bleaching of cellulose fabrics

Abstract Polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) films composed of two natural polysaccharides (hyaluronic acid and chitosan) were deposited through layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly on top of biocompatible mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs). Polyelectrolyte multilayer coated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (PEM-MSNPs) were characterized by using attenuated total reflection–fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR–FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, UV–vis and fluorescence spectrophotometer. A commercially available and industrially used optical brightener, 4,4′-distyrylbiphenyl sulfonate sodium salt (CBSX) was loaded into nanocontainers (CBSX@PEM-MSNPs) to evaluate their use for the pH-sensitive release. The controlled release of CBSX from nanocontainers in response to pH is monitored by using UV–vis and fluorescence spectrophotometer in water and the almost 100% of encapsulated CBSX is released within 2 h at pH 7. The increase in both whiteness and total color change at pH 7 on a cellulose fabric demonstrates the great potential of nanocontainers as pH-sensitive whitening agents for optical bleaching of cellulose fabrics.