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Fabrication of antimicrobial electrospun mats using polyvinyl alcohol–zinc oxide blends

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Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a low-cost biocompatible polymer with potential applications in the textile industry. Similarly, zinc oxide (ZnO) is a unique material that exhibits semiconducting, optical, piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and antibacterial properties. Electrospinning is a technique that allows the formation of nano- to micro-sized fibers. Therefore, the development of ZnO-containing PVA fibers using electrospinning is a useful proposition. In this work, freeze-dried ZnO powder and as-precipitated ZnO suspension obtained from a novel flow synthesis methodology were used. Varying concentrations of ZnO were then used to obtain PVA/ZnO electrospun fibrous mats. Synthesized ZnO was assessed for phase purity using X-ray diffraction. The as-prepared composite nanofibers were characterized using Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Tensile properties of PVA/ZnO mats were also measured. It is herein shown that antibacterial fibrous PVA/ZnO composites can be successfully synthesized using electrospinning. Antibacterial studies of the fabricated electrospun mats were carried out using zone inhibition method on Gram-positive S. aureus bacteria. The results showed that with increasing concentration of ZnO, antibacterial properties were improved.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Higher Education Commission NRPU (Project No. 20-1834/R&D/10-4886), Ministry of Science and Technology (for a developmental grant—PC1 CATBM) CUI-TWAS program for financial support (post-doctoral fellowship and research grant).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Polymer and Textile Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria

    Henry Chinedu Obasi

  2. Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Lahore, Pakistan

    Henry Chinedu Obasi, Kashif Ijaz, Hafsah Akhtar, Asif Ali, Hamad Khalid, Ather F. Khan & Aqif A. Chaudhry

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  1. Henry Chinedu Obasi
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Obasi, H.C., Ijaz, K., Akhtar, H. et al. Fabrication of antimicrobial electrospun mats using polyvinyl alcohol–zinc oxide blends. Polym. Bull. 80, 2681–2695 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-022-04164-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-022-04164-8

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