INSIGHT INTO SORPTION AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF ANTIBACTERIAL WOUND DRESSINGS COMPOSED OF VISCOSE FABRICS FUNCTIONALIZED WITH CHITOSAN AND CHITOSAN-BASED NANOPARTICLES

Wound dressings designed with simultaneously adequate antibacterial, sorption, and antioxidant properties enable proper wound healing. Since the antibacterial properties have already been proven in our previous studies, the sorption and antioxidant properties of raw and differently pretreated (TEMPO-oxidized and TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (TOCN) coated) viscose fabrics (CVs), functionalized with chitosan (CH) and chitosan-based nanoparticles with (NCH+Zn) and without incorporated zinc (NCH), were investigated. The sorption properties were evaluated by absorbency rate and capacity, contact angle, zeta potential, and moisture sorption, whereas the antioxidant properties were determined by the ABTS method. The morphological properties of CVs were investigated by SEM. By using pretreatments, the sorption and antioxidant properties of CVs were improved, while subsequent functionalization with CH, NCH and NCH+Zn decreased both properties. However, TOCN-coated CV functionalized with CH and TEMPO-oxidized CV functionalized with NCH still have sorption and antioxidant properties better than raw CV. The obtained results allow the design of antibacterial wound dressings with predefined sorption and antioxidant properties.