Novel bioactive surface functionalization of bacterial cellulose membrane

Bacterial cellulose (BC) membrane is a promising biopolymer which can be used for tissue implants, wound healing, and drug delivery due to its unique properties, such as high crystallinity, high mechanical strength, ultrafine fiber network structure, good water holding capacity and biocompatibility. However, BC does not intrinsically present antibacterial properties. In the present study, functionalized BC membranes were prepared. FTIR, SEM and XPS were used to characterize the chemical composition and surface morphology. Static water contact angles were measured to investigate surface wettability. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Candida albicans were used to evaluate the antibacterial properties of membranes. HEK293 cell lines were applied to assess the biocompatibility of membrane surfaces by MTT assay and their morphologies were observed by Confocal Microscopy. Interestingly, the resultant functionalized BC membranes exhibiting excellent antibacterial property and good biocompatibility demonstrated great utility and potential as biomaterial materials.