Tracking of the viability of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia bacteria population in polyvinylalcohol nanofiber webs by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy

Polyvinylalcohol (PVA) fiber web containing embedded bacteria was prepared by electrospinning technique. From the point of the complex functionality of such potential delivery systems, it will be of impact how bacteria can survive in such artificial biotopes. The present study suggests a possible fast method for the tracking of the viability of the embedded bacteria based on the changes of the supramolecular structure of the polymeric delivery system caused by the metabolic product of the bacteria. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) was applied to track the free volume changes of the system in the course of storage. The PALS method sensitively detected the free volume changes, thus the viability of the bacteria in the polymeric fiber web. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.