Fabrication, characterization, and antifungal activity of sodium hyaluronate-TiO2 bionanocomposite against Aspergillus niger

In this study, characterization and antifungal properties of novel sodium hyaluronate-TiO2 bionanocomposite were studied. Sodium hyaluronate (SH) biopolymer was synthesized by bacterial fermentation, while TiO2 nanoparticles and SH-TiO2 nanocomposites were synthesized using the sol-gel and in-situ methods, respectively. The characterizations of products were surveyed by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Appling these techniques, we identified some differences in the nanocomposite structure and its components that confirmed the formation of the SH-TiO2 nanocomposite. SH-TiO2 nanocomposites showed better antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger compared to sodium hyaluronate biopolymer and TiO2 nanoparticles. The improved antifungal activity of the SH-TiO2 bionanocomposite may be elucidated by a synergistic antifungal effect.