Nanofibers have unique characteristics which make them economically beneficial for the consumer and efficient to use for drug delivery. The most efficient way of synthesizing nanofibers is by electrospinning liquid droplets to stretch them into fibers. Nanotechnology is the future for many biomedical problems and have many applications like tissue scaffolding or, in this case, wound dressing. Our nanofibers are composed of a chitosan polymer infused with honey and antibiotics. We hypothesis that the chitosan nanofiber infused with honey will have a synergistic effect with antibiotics to fight infections and promote wound healing. Chitosan and honey are both known to have antimicrobial properties and helps in wound healing. The chitosan was dissolved in aqueous acetic acid to create a solution to which honey and antibiotics were added and then electrospun at a high voltage. The fibers were characterized with a light microscope and optical spectrometric analysis. These fibers were then tested against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria to observe the antimicrobial effect of the fibers as well as any synergistic properties that they have as they degrade. Our results show that these fibers inhibit the growth of bacteria and could in the future be used as dressings for patients like burn victims.

Synergestic effects of organic nanofibers, honey and antibiotics for wound dressings

255th National Meeting (2018)

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