Development of sodium alginate-pectin/TiO₂ nanocomposites: Antibacterial and bioactivity investigations

In this research, sodium alginate-pectin composite (ALG-PEC CS) and nanocomposites (NCs) films with 0.5, 1, and 2 wt% TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared using CaCl₂ and glutaraldehyde (Glu) as cross-linkers. The cross-linking produces rigid scaffolds for sedimentation of hydroxyapatite (HA), it can also decrease solubility in water and simulated body fluid (SBF) solution to 10% or less. The increase of the adsorbed water and SBF extends the pores and consequently the surface area for HA growth. Bioactive ability was confirmed via HA's presence on the all films. It was revealed that the film containing 2 wt% TiO₂ NPs had the best bioactivity without any in vitro cytotoxicity on MG-63 cell line and the best antibacterial performance against Staphylococcus aureus, and after 1 h all the bacteria were killed.