Chitosan is a natural biopolymer that can be used in biomedical applications, tissue engineering, and wound dressing because of its biodegradability, biocompatibility, and antibacterial activity. The blending of chitosan films with natural biomaterials such as cellulose, honey, and curcumin was studied at different concentrations in order to improve their physical properties. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, mechanical tensile properties, X-ray diffraction (XRD), antibacterial effects, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were studied for all blended films. The XRD, FTIR, and mechanical results showed that films blended with curcumin were more rigid and compatible and had higher antibacterial effects than other blended films. In addition, XRD and SEM showed that blending chitosan films with curcumin decreases the crystallinity of the chitosan matrix compared to cellulose and honey blending films due to increased intermolecular hydrogen bonding, which reduces the close packing of the CS matrix.
Keywords: antibacterial effect; chitosan; close packing; crystallinity; curcumin.