Antibacterial Activity of Sugarcane Bagasse Nanocellulose Biocomposite with Chitosan Against Escherichia coli

Antibacterials have been used to treat infectious diseases in both humans and animals since 1929. Along with their use, there is resistance to some antibacterials. 43% of Escherichia coli is resistant to various types of antibiotics. Therefore, research on the development of antibacterial ingredients is always being developed. Nanocellulose has received a lot of attention on its application of antibacterial material support. Meanwhile, chitosan is an antibacterial biopolymer with a brittle structure, hence nanocellulose is added to chitosan film to increase its structural stability. In this study, nanocellulose was extracted from sugarcane bagasse through a combination method of sulfuric acid hydrolysis with ultrasonic waves. The effect of addition of nanocellulose to chitosan mechanical properties was investigated. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) characterization showed that there were differences in morphology between nanocellulose, chitosan, and nanocellulose-chitosan biocomposites. The result of X-Ray Diffraction and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that biocomposites was successfully formed. The average size of nanocellulose particle was 132.67 nm. Nanocellulose-chitosan biocomposites with a ratio of 10:2 have the best antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli than other biocomposite ratios.