Two kinds of macromolecules applied in papermaking were modified with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and loaded with ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CipHCl) in an attempt to compare their potential applications in antimicrobial paper. β-CD grafted cellulose (β-CD-Cel) and β-CD grafted cationic starch (β-CD-CS) were prepared by grafting β-CD onto cellulose fiber and cationic starch using citric acid (CA) and epichlorohydrin (ECH) as crosslinking agents, respectively. β-CD-Cel and β-CD-CS were both loaded with an antimicrobial agent (CipHCl) to form inclusion complexes, namely β-CD-Cel-CipHCl and β-CD-CS-CipHCl. Furthermore, the inclusion complexes were added to the pulp to prepare antibacterial paper. The antimicrobial activity and physical properties of the paper were investigated. The results showed that the paper with both inclusion complexes exhibited excellent antibacterial activity, and the antibacterial activity with β-CD-CS-CipHCl was higher than that with β-CD-CelCipHCl. Moreover, the addition of both β-CD-Cel-CipHCl and β-CD-CSCipHCl affected the tensile and tear strengths of the paper. The paper with β-CD-CS-CipHCl had better physical properties than that with β-CDCel-CipHCl because the CS acts as a reinforcing agent in papermaking. These prepared antibacterial paper sheets may be useful for preventing wound and nosocomial infections in the medical and packaging fields.
Polyelectrolyte (PE) complexes (PECs) are formed by the electronic interaction between cationic and anionic PEs, and a number of factors influence the forming pattern and characteristic of the PECs. In this work, a guanidine-based polymer with high cationic charge density (CD) and low molecular weight (MW) was applied for interacting with anionic carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) with low CD and high MW. To reveal the self-assembly pattern of the PEC, the turbidity of PEC and layer-by-layer (LBL) film, along with its adsorption on cellulose fibers, was characterized. The antimicrobial activity of the handsheet containing the PEC was also investigated. The charge ratio of anionic PE to cationic PE was found to be critical to the PEC stability. The roughness of the LBL film was increased and then decreased with more bilayers assembled. The isothermal adsorption indicated that the amount of adsorbed cationic PE on cellulose fibers was increased significantly by interacting with anionic CMC. The inhibition of the cationic PE on bacterial growth was not impaired by the formation of the complex. The CMC with high MW in the complex could maintain or even improve the antimicrobial efficiency of the guanidine-based polymer in handsheet.
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