Bacteria induced diseases are easily transmitted through respiratory droplets expelled from a person’s nose or mouth. Recently, human beings have suffered from unpredictable clinical outcomes due to the rapid transmission, high infectivity, and antibiotic resistance of these diseases. As a result, it has become increasingly important for researchers to discover materials that disrupt bacterial growth and transmission. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) are known to have antimicrobial properties, as they penetrate and rupture the cell membrane of bacteria. In this study, we investigated the antibacterial properties of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based nanocomposites coated with different concentrations AgNPs and CuNPs. Various concentrations of silver nitrate (AgNO3) or Copper sulfate (CuSO4) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were mixed into dimethylformamide (DMF) solution, an electrospinning solution that also acts as a reducing agent for AgNO3 and CuSO4. The resulting nanocolloid was then electrospun into different nanocomposite matrices. Vancomycin-intermediate and Methicillin-resistant isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, an infective strain that causes pneumonia and bacteremia, were incubated with cutouts of various nanocomposites using a disk diffusion method on Luria-Bertani (LB) agar to test for the polymers’ antibacterial properties. Herein, we disclose optimal compositions of AgNPs and CuNPs in PAN fiber that have successfully demonstrated antibacterial activity against bacteria that were otherwise resistant to highly effective antibiotics.

Antibacterial activity of electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanocomposite matrices coated with silver and copper nanoparticles

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ACS Fall 2022

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