Effect of a new methacrylate polymer with chlorobenzyl amide side group and biosynthesized ZnO nanoparticles on thermal and biological properties of chitosan

There is an increasing demand for bio-based chitosan materials doped with synthetic polymers for sustainable production and economic development. Due to their helpful medical applications, chitosan-based nanocomposites containing ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) are very interesting. In the present study, new composite materials containing newly synthesized methacrylate-based polymer Poly(2-{[(2,4-chlorophenyl)methyl]amino}-2-oxoethyl-2-methylprop-2-enoate (PDCBMA), chitosan (CS) and biosynthesized ZnO NPs were produced by hydrothermal method. The composites were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, EDX, and TEM. Synthetic PDCBMA blended with CS decreased the thermal stability of pure CS, but the addition of ZnO NPs slightly increased the thermal stability. Blending with PDCBMA and adding ZnO NPs increased the glass transition temperature (Tg) of pure CS. While the antibacterial activities of PDCBMA-CS/ZnO nanocomposites were significantly increased compared to CS, the antifungal effect was low. It was determined that ZnO NPs and PDCBMA included in the structure of CS were anticarcinogenic on A549 cells even at the lowest concentration (16 µg/mL). It was determined that the wound-healing effect of the PDCBMA-CS mixture was better than that of the control group, and the nanocomposite containing 3% ZnO NPs had a wound-healing activity close to the control group. The antimicrobial activity of the nanocomposite containing PDCBMA-CS blend and 3% ZnO NPs is higher than CS, so it is considered a good alternative as a substitute wound-healing material.