Preparation, characterization and performance evaluation of chitosan/palygorskite/glycyrrhizic acid nanocomposite films

Chitosan/palygorskite/glycyrrhizic acid nanocomposite films were prepared by solution casting method using palygorskite (Pal), glycyrrhizic acid (GA) as fillers and chitosan (CS) as matrix. The cross-sectional morphology, bonding structure, and crystal structure of as-prepared films were characterized by SEM, FTIR and XRD. The effects of various contents of GA (0.25–5.0 wt%) on physical, mechanical, antibacterial properties and hemocompatibility of the films were investigated detailedly. With the addition of Pal and GA, the tensile strength increased from 26.47 MPa to 32.17 MPa, which can be caused by the uniformly dispersed nanofillers Pal in the CS matrix and the electrostatic interaction between the OH of GA, Si-OH or -Si-O− of Pal and the -NH2 of CS. More importantly, the composite films exhibited preeminent antibacterial activity and hemocompatibility. The results demonstrated that the designed films are safe, economical, and efficacious enough to be used as wound dressings.