Preparation, characterization and antibacterial activity of new ionized chitosan

In order to improve the solubility and antibacterial activity of chitosan and expand its application range, ionized chitosan (ICS) was successfully synthesized from chitosan through methylation and sulfonation reactions in this study. The chemical structures of the polymers were verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ¹H NMR, and a series of characterizations of the polymer were carried out by analytical methods such as element analysis (EA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the water solubility of the modified ICS was significantly improved. The introduction of propyl sulfonic acid groups with particle size decreasing and potential increasing greatly improved the antibacterial activity of chitosan, indicating that the ICS had the potential as a water-soluble antibacterial agent.