A wound dressing is important to ensure an efficient healing process while protecting the wound area. This research study combined 2-hydroxyethyl cellulose (2HEC)—an etherified cellulose derivative with salicylic acid (SA) to develop a single layer and investigate the 2HEC viability as wound dressing material. Nine different samples with different compositions of SA, from 5 wt.% to 40 wt.% (with an interval of 5 wt.%) and one control sample without adding SA were prepared via the solution casting method. The 2HEC-SA films were studied regarding the effects of SA composition on antimicrobial properties (Staphylococcus aureus) via the well-diffusion method. Additionally, degradability, mechanical properties, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) of 2HEC-SA films have also been tested. The strongest antimicrobial effect of 2HEC-SA film was obtained at 40 wt.% with a 16 mm inhibition zone diameter. There was a noticeable decreasing weight loss pattern in the degradation test and the tensile strength of 2HEC-SA film when the composition of salicylic acid is increased. 2HEC-SA film changes phases from amorphous to crystalline starting at 25 wt.% of salicylic acid as seen through XRD, while FTIR shows that complexation of 2HEC and salicylic acid occurred at 1050 cm−1.

Ionic conductivity is one of the important properties for an electrolyte to be considered before it can used as practical application in energy storage. Therefore, this study aims to improve the ionic conductivity of solid biopolymer electrolyte (SBE) based on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) doped with ammonium acetate (AA) by incorporating plasticizer, namely, dimethyl carbonate (DMC). The SBEs were prepared using solution casting technique. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) was used to as certain the complexation among CMC, AA and DMC. From FTIR analysis, DMC is believed to have created new pathways for ionic conduction. The electrical properties of SBEs were investigated using Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). The highest conducting value achieved for the plasticized system was4.27×10-5S cm-1for sample containing 10 wt% DMC. Dielectric analysis revealed that frequency and plasticizer content affect the dielectric constant value. By employing Transference Number Measurement (TNM), the charge transport in the SBE system proved to be predominantly ions where DMC 10 has the highest tion(0.95). Overall, addition of 10 wt% of DMC has the best electrical properties.

In this work, a plasticised carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) solid biopolymer electrolytes (PSBEs) system was prepared via solution casting technique with ammonium acetate (NH4 CH3 COO), ethylene glycol (EG) as doping salt and plasticiser respectively. Upon addition of 35 wt.% of EG (PSBE 4), the ionic conductivity obtained is 1.81 × 10-5 Scm-1 which represents the optimum value for the system. The PSBE also tested at elevated temperatures and fitted to an Arrhenius equation. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis found no significant changes to the molecular structure of CMC with addition of EG. Jonscher’s power law indicates that quantum tunnelling is the well-matched model to describe ionic conduction for PSBE 4 and it appears that it is also highly ionic with good transference number obtain from dc polarisation analysis technique.