Fabrication of Core/Shell Nanofibers with Desirable Mechanical and Antibacterial Properties by Pickering Emulsion Electrospinning

To endow nanofibers with the desirable antibacterial and mechanical properties, a facile strategy using Pickering emulsion (PE) electrospinning is proposed to prepare functional nanofibers with core/shell structure for the first time. The water-in-oil (W/O) Pickering emulsion stabilized by oleic acid (OA)-coated magnetite iron oxide nanoparticles (OA-MIONs) is comprised of aqueous vancomycin hydrochloride (Van) solution and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) solution. The core/shell structure of the electrospun Van/OA-MIONs-PLA nanofibers is confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy observation. Sustained release of Van from the PE electrospun nanofiber membrane is achieved within the time of 600 h. Compared with the neat PLA electrospun nanofiber membrane, 57% increase of tensile strength and 36% elevation of elongation at break are achieved on PE electrospun nanofiber membrane. In addition, the PE electrospun nanofiber membrane demonstrates excellent antibacterial property stemming from the combinational antibacterial activities of OA-MIONs and Van. The Van-loaded PE electrospinning nanofibers with sustained antibacterial performance possess potential applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery.