Revamping squid gladii to biodegradable composites: In situ grafting of polyaniline to β-chitin and their antibacterial activity

The global health concern on wound care is becoming more challenging with the emerging prevalence of inexorable antibiotic resistance. Amidst this crisis, various material innovations have been made to combat this dilemma. Herein, squid pens, which are regarded as discards in the seafood industry, were biorefined into beta-chitin-graft-polyaniline (beta-chitin-g-PANI) composites for possible wound dressing development. beta-chitin was first chemically extracted from gladii, and was then grafted with PANI via in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of various concentrations of aniline, to produce the beta-chitin-g-PANI composites. Supporting data from FTIR, UV-Vis, SEM, TGA, and DSC suggest that beta-chitin was successfully grafted with PANI. Moreover, improved conductivity and in vitro degradation of the composites were observed as compared to beta-chitin and PANI alone, respectively. Zones of inhibition observed from agar diffusion method suggest that the synthesized composites have antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. The resulting physicochemical and biological properties of integrating conducting PANI to beta-chitin substantiated and rendered the beta-chitin-g-PANI composites desirable candidates for the development wound care products.

Automated summary

This study utilized squid pens to develop beta-chitin-g-PANI composites as a potential wound dressing material, demonstrating improved conductivity, in vitro degradation, and antibacterial activity compared to beta-chitin and PANI alone. The integration of conducting PANI into beta-chitin makes the composites desirable candidates for wound care product development.