Enhanced antimicrobial activity and reduced water absorption of chitosan films graft copolymerized with poly (acryloykoxy) ethyltrimethylammonium chloride

In this work, quaternary chitosan was synthesized by grafting Poly[2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl trimethylammonium chloride] or pATC onto chitosan by the free-radical polymerization. Two concentrations of the monomer were used, 30 and 50% on the weight of chitosan. The produced quaternized chitosan was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infra-red, energy dispersive X-ray, and UV-vis spectroscopies. The produced chitosan was converted into a film by solution casting and evaporating the water. Their physical (such as water absorption, swelling ratio, and transparency) and mechanical properties were compared with the film produced from the unmodified chitosan. Thermal stability of the films was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis.