Abstract
A method for obtaining a nanocomposite from hydrophobic clays with bactericidal properties is considered, which plays the role of a drug matrix intercalated agar-agar. Such nanocomposite materials are increasingly used in medicine as matrices for medicines and vitamins using their adsorption properties and long-term exposure. It was established using TEM analysis that halloysite particles from Beloye Glinische deposit are nanoscale and have a cylindrical shape with a length from 200 nm to 1000 nm and a diameter of nanoparticles from 50 nm to 80 nm. The first stage of the bionanocomposites manufacturing process was the treatment of halloysite nanoparticles with silver ions to impart antimicrobial properties, and hydrophobization with a cationic surfactant was carried out at the next stage. It was established by the X-ray diffraction method that the interlayer space of HNT has been expanded from 9.998 Å to 17.5 Å on the result of the cationic adsorption on the HNT. FTIR spectroscopy also proved the adsorption of surfactant molecules on halloysite by the presence of an appropriate absorption band. The adsorption of silver on a nanotube made of halloysite was revealed by the method of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Antimicrobial properties of silver-treated and organophilic halloysite have been established and proved by in vitro analyses in microbiological laboratories about Escherichia coli. Hydrophobic samples of these organophilic clays had edge angles higher than 90° and this proves that all samples are hydrophobic. The resulting organophilic clays were intercalated into an agar-agar matrix and were thrown into a solution of calcium chloride, which gave them stability in a liquid medium. It has been practically established that the most optimal bionanocomposite microsphere is a 50% ratio of organohalloysite and agar-agar.