ABSTRACT
Metal nanoparticle–embedded and –decorated composite polymer nanofibers are convenient and cost-effective antimicrobial nanofibrous membranes that would be suitable for both air and water bacterial filtration. Polyacrylonitrile-based nanofibers produced by electrospinning have attracted wide attention due to thermal stability, mechanical properties, chemical resistance, and abundant functional cyanogroups on their macromolecular chains. The antimicrobial activity of pristine and composite nanofibers is evaluated against gram-negative E. coli and gram-positive Staphylococcus gallinarum bacterial strains according to the Cornell test. Electrospun polymer nanofibers loaded with silver nanoparticles are prepared using different methods, such as the silver mirror reaction method; the silver nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed on the surface of nanofibers. The findings demonstrate that the surface chemistry of nanofibers can be altered to combat the adhesion of specific bacteria to nanofibers. The simplest method for combining Ag nanoparticles with electrospun nanofibers is by preparing a suspension of Ag nanoparticles directly in the pre-electrospinning polymer solution.
