Composite nanofibers were prepared successfully by centrifugal spinning of poly(ethylene oxide) aqueous solutions containing silver nanoparticles. The core focus of the present work is to carefully evaluate the antibacterial activity of poly(ethylene oxide)-Ag composite nanofibers in the presence of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) bacteria. Centrifugally spun nanofibers were obtained from poly(ethylene oxide)-Ag precursor solutions with different Ag nanoparticle loadings. The process parameters such as the spinneret rotational speed, collector-spinneret distance, and relative humidity were optimized to obtain fine fibers. The complex morphology and flexible structure of the poly(ethylene oxide)-Ag composite fibers were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and Raman spectroscopy. The composite nanofibers have been proven as a strong antibacterial agent against E. coli and B. cereus due to their capacity to form superior inhibition zones. The efficiency of inhibiting bacteria by nanofibers was over 98%.The workability of the bacteria was impeded by the nanofibrous membrane as the Ag nanoparticles presented an effective chemical ability to dysfunction the bacterial structure at the nanoscale. These results demonstrate that the centrifugally spun poly(ethylene oxide)-Ag nanofibers are promising antibacterial agents for biomedical applications.
SnO 2 /TiO 2 micro belt-fiber composites were successfully synthesized using centrifugal spinning and subsequent heat treatment of SnO 2 /TiO 2 /polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) precursor fibers. SnO 2 /TiO 2 /PVP precursor solutions consisting of different ratios of SnO 2 to TiO 2 were prepared by mixing Tin (II) 2-ethylhexanoate and titanium (IV) butoxide with PVP in ethanol. The SnO 2 /TiO 2 /PVP mixture was heat treated in air at 700 C, which resulted in the formation of SnO 2 /TiO 2 micron-sized fibers with a belt-shaped morphology. Structural, morphology, and surface chemistry characterization of the materials was performed using powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. SEM analysis showed the SnO 2 /TiO 2 composite fibers with (3:2) ratio had a micro belt morphology with particles on the surface. The material was tested as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs); the composite fiber electrode delivered an initial capacity of 1200 mAh g À1 at 100 mA g À1 . The capacity was observed to decrease to 279 mAh g À1 after 70 cycles; however, the sample retained a columbic efficiency of 99%, which indicated good reversibility. Due to the high surface area and unique structure, the as-synthesized SnO 2 /TiO 2 composite fibers may be promising for sensor and LIB applications.
Copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) embedded in polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) fiber-matrices were prepared through centrifugal spinning of PVP/ethanol and PEO/aqueous solutions, respectively. The prime focus of the current study is to investigate the antibacterial activity of composite fibers against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) bacteria. During the fiber formation, the centrifugal spinning parameters such as spinneret rotational speed, spinneret to collector distance, and relative humidity were carefully chosen to obtain long and continuous fibers. The structural and morphological analyses of both composite fibers were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. In the antibacterial test, PVP/Cu and PEO/Cu composite fibrous membranes exhibited inhibition efficiency of 99.98% and 99.99% against E. coli and B. cereus bacteria, respectively. Basically, CuNPs were well embedded in the fibrous membrane at the nanoscale level, which facilitated the inhibition of bacterial functions through the inactivation of the chemical structure of the cells. Such an effective antibacterial agent obtained from forcespun composite fibers could be promising candidates for biomedical applications.
Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are being demanded over the years due to profusion of Na in nature as well as the unavailability, expensiveness, and fragility of rechargeable Li-ion batteries (LIBs). Metal-oxide anode materials face various pitfalls such as volume expansion during charge/discharge cycles, high irreversible capacity, and conductivity-related issues. Porous structures aligned with amorphous carbon into the metal oxide is a novel technique that has been used to synthesize novel nanostructures for SIBs. Tin oxide has been recently used as a good anode material for SIBs, but SnO2 suffers from high volume change and low capacity retention after prolonged charge/discharge cycles. SnO2 coupled with Titanium oxide, has been proven as a good anode material due its good capacity retention and improved electrochemical performance and cyclability. The current work focuses on the processing of centrifugally spun PAN/PMMA/SnO2/TiO2 composite precursor fibers to fabricate SnO2/SnO2/C composite fibers for SIBs as anode materials in LIBs and SIBs. The electrochemical performance of the composite fibers was evaluated by galvanostatic charge/discharge, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and rate performance experiments. The SnO2/TiO2/C composite-fiber anode showed improved electrochemical performance when compared to SnO2/TiO2 composite fibers which was attributed to the synergetic effect of TiO2.
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