Preparation of Nanocellulose-Alginate Nanocomposites for Chlorhexidine Digluconate Drug Carrier

Root canal treatment failures generally caused by microorganisms that have ability to invade dentinal tubules. Chlorhexidine is widely known to effectively eradicate broad spectrum bacteria that infected dentinal tubules. The delivery of chlorhexidine to the infected site of root canal still becomes an issue. In order to increase the stability and to regulate the release of chlorhexidine, encapsulation of chlorhexidine digluconate was conducted by employing nanocellulose and alginate nanocomposites. Nanocellulose was prepared from palm kernel cake using acid hydrolysis method. Transmission electron microscopy images showed the formation of whisker and fiber nanocellulose with the average diameter of 20 nm. Resulting nanocellulose was combined with alginate in the presence of Ca²⁺ crosslinker. Scanning electron microscopy images displayed sphere and oval morphologies of microcapsules with diameter of 500 nm. The microcapsules were further loaded with chlorhexidine digluconate 2% (w/v). In vitro drug release properties were evaluated in PBS at pH 7.4 (normal tooth environment) and at pH 5.5 (infected tooth environment). The UV-VIS results showed that chlorhexidine digluconate has higher release rate at pH 5.5 than at pH 7.4, suggesting that the microcapsule is a good candidate for the delivery of chlorhexidine digluconate to the infected root canal tooth environment.