Electrospinning of antibacterial cellulose acetate/polyethylene glycol fiber with in situ reduced silver particles

A novel composition of antibacterial fiber mat, consisting of cellulose acetate (CA), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and silver particles (AgPs) was fabricated by electrospinning. This study presents a facile method for incorporating AgPs into the fiber mat by in situ reduction of silver nitrate by the electrospinning solvent, 2:1 acetone/N,N Dimethyl acetamide (DMAc). The solution of CA/PEG/AgPs was electrospun and the obtained fiber mat was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) which revealed smooth fibers of CA with a diameter in the range 250-400 nm. Interestingly, the surface of the fibers appeared striated on addition of the PEG. FESEM also showed AgPs of size 10 nm incorporated into the fiber. Formation of AgPs was also confirmed by UV-Vis, which generated Plasmon peak at 420 nm. It appeared that PEG not only stabilized the formed AgPs against agglomeration but also improved water uptake of the CA fiber mat by similar to 95%. This improved swelling property of the fiber mat shows the ability to absorb more wound exudates. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and tensile test were performed to analyze the structural, thermal and mechanical properties of the CA/PEG/AgPs fiber mat. Finally, the electrospun fiber mat showed satisfactory antibacterial efficacy against gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) and gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus).