Development of Chitosan/TiO2 Nanocomposite for Multifunctional Sunscreen Application

Several problems that often occur on the skin are acne and sunburn due to UV exposure. Acne is caused by the activity of bacteria dwelling on the surface of skin. This study has successfully synthesized several multifunctional cream based on chitosan loading in the chitosan/TiO2 nanocomposite. Multifunctional sunscreen defined by anti-bacterial and sunscreens performance with photocatalytic technology. Multifunctional sunscreen is made by Chitosan/TiO2 nanocomposite as active ingredient. Nanocomposite which has been synthesized is characterized by FT-IR, UV-Vis DRS, and SEM-EDX. To make Multifunctional sunscreen, the nanocomposite chitosan/TiO2 as active ingredient is mixed with water and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as natural emulsifier. The result of testing the disinfection of bacteria Escheria coli by nanocomposite chitosan/TiO2 showed the bacteria can be eliminated up to 99.7% within 2 hours. As sunscreens, creams have the ability to moderate protection under UV rays with SPF values from 21.30 to 22.77.