Antibacterial nanocomposites based on chitosan/Co-MCM as a selective and efficient adsorbent for organic dyes

Chitosan/cobalt-silica (Co-MCM) nanocomposites were synthesized for the purification of effluent by adding 5, 15 and 25mL of Co-MCM solution to the aqueous chitosan solution for the formation of chitosan/Co-MCM-5, chitosan/Co-MCM-15 and chitosan/Co-MCM-25, respectively. These different nanocomposites were characterized by FESEM, EDS, X-ray crystallography and IR spectrophotometer and employed for the adsorption of various dyes (methyl orange, acridine orange, indigo carmine and congo red). The respective nanocomposites showed good adsorption toward methyl orange, indigo carmine and congo red while all nanocomposites were inactive for acridine orange dye. Among the nanocomposites, chitosan/Co-MCM-15 showed the highest adsorption performance which might be due to ideal dispersion of Co-MCM inside the chitosan polymer host. Chitosan/Co-MCM-15 exhibited high adsorption for methyl orange as compared to indigo carmine. We have further checked the biological potential of chitosan/Co-MCM nanocomposites against gram positive and negative bacteria as well as multi drug resistant bacteria. The results favor the strongest bioactivities of chitosan/Co-MCM-15 against various gram positive and gram negative bacteria as well as multi drug resistant bacteria, which further suggest the ideal dispersion of Co-MCM in chitosan polymer host and is responsible for the improvement of both adsorption as well as biological performance.