Acidic ionic liquid catalyzed crosslinking of oxycellulose with chitosan for advanced biocomposites

This paper presents a novel environmentally friendly production of chitosan-crosslinked oxycellulose films by using ionic liquids (AmimCl and SmimHSO4). The effect of reaction parameters on chitosan contents and mechanical properties of chitosan-crosslinked oxycellulose films was also investigated. The results revealed that appropriate SmimHSO4 dosage and reaction time were 5% and 2 h respectively. FTIR analysis of chitosan-crosslinked oxycellulose film suggested that the chitosan was crosslinked with oxycellulose through the reaction between the amino groups in chitosan and the aldehyde groups in oxycellulose, and the results of XPS analysis further confirmed the reaction between both polysaccharides. SEM images suggested that the developed chitosan-crosslinked oxycellulose films had a smooth and compact structure, and a highly inhibitory effect against the bacteria of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The developed materials and technologies could be further formulated for the production of various antimicrobial and biomedical products or water treatment membranes.