Clay-Loaded Chitosan-Based Biocompatible Composite Films in Dentistry

Abstract

Chitosan-derived nanocomposites loaded with montmorillonite clay, designated as CS/MMT, were prepared by physical mixing of chitosan polymer and sodium montmorillonite (MMT) particles. The main objective of this work was to obtain transparent lms that may have useful applications as dental materials in dental surgery. The polymer thin lms were prepared by loading varying concentrations of clay particles and their physico-mechanical as well as antibacterial properties were measured. Materials and Methods: Chitosan, MMT clay, acetic acid glacial, distilled water are used as received. Composite membranes of pure chitosan (CS) and CS/MMT were prepared. Chitosan solution was prepared by dissolving CS in acetic acid. MMT clay particles were then dispersed in water in a beaker and added to the previously prepared CS solution. Uniform thickness lms or membranes were casted on a clean at glass plate, dried and peeled off to remove the lms formed. Pristine CS lm was prepared in the same manner except that clay ller particles were not added. The lms thus prepared were all characterized by SEM, XRD, and UTM to understand their properties. Results: Tensile strength, yield strength, modulus of elasticity increased signicantly with increasing concentration of the clay particles. The addition of silver nitrate nanoparticles showed signicantly higher antimicrobial activity compared to pure chitosan lm. Conclusions: The results suggest a potential application of nanocomposites developed based on natural biopolymers that are biodegradable and biocompatible materials having good antimicrobial activity.