Fabrication of alginate/ zinc oxide/ turmaline composite films and investigation of their antibacterial and photocatalytic properties

Health is a top priority for a quality human life. In case of injuries, a comfortable wound healing process affects the quality of life. In this study, tourmaline and zinc oxide particles were added to alginate polymer to produce film surfaces and the properties of the produced surfaces were investigated. In order to determine the effect of tourmaline and zinc oxide, both materials were doped into alginate alone to produce films and alginate film surfaces with both of them together but in different ratios were produced. A 100% alginate film was produced to be used as a control sample. Coagulation solution was used for faster solidification of the film surfaces. Since the produced composite films are expected to be used in wound dressing applications, their strength, swelling behavior, water vapor permeability, antibacterial properties and photocatalytic effects were investigated and the results were evaluated by SEM-EDS, FTIR, XRD analysis for morphological, elemental and structural investigations. The surfaces produced within the scope of the thesis are envisaged to be used in wound dressing applications and the main purpose is limited to in vitro investigations of the composite structure containing Alginate / Zinc Oxide / Tourmaline. Clinical tests and applications are excluded from the scope of this study.