Chitosan & Conductive PANI/Chitosan Composite Nanofibers - Evaluation of Antibacterial Properties

Abstract

Background: Within the healthcare industry, including the care of chronic wounds, the challenge of antimicrobial resistance continues to grow. As such, there is a need to develop new treatments that can reduce the bioburden in wounds. Objective: The present study is focused on the development of polyaniline (PANI) / chitosan (CH) nanofibrous electrospun membranes and evaluates their antibacterial properties. Methods: To this end, experimental design was used to determine the electrospinning windows of both pure chitosan and PANI/CH blends of different ratios (1:3, 3:5, 1:1). The effect of key environmental and process parameters (relative humidity and applied voltage) was determined, as well as the effect of the PANI/CH ratio in the blend and the molecular interactions between PANI and chitosan that led to jet stability. Results: The nanofibrous mats were evaluated regarding their morphology and antibacterial effect against model gram positive and gram negative bacterial strains, namely B. subtilis and E. coli. High PANI content mats show increased bactericidal activity against both bacterial strains. Conclusion: The blend fibre membranes combine the materials’ respective properties, namely electrical conductivity, biocompatibility and antibacterial activity. This study suggests that electrospun PANI/CH membranes are promising candidates for healthcare applications, such as wound dressings.

Electrospinning of Chitosan for Antibacterial Applications—Current Trends

“…The fibers were then evaluated against two bacteria strains, E. coli and B. subtilis. Mats with a high PANI concentration exhibited enhanced bactericidal activity, making the composite membrane a potential candidate for wound dressing applications because of the biocompatibility, electrical charges, and antibacterial properties of the blended materials in use [194].…”

Revamping squid gladii to biodegradable composites: In situ grafting of polyaniline to β-chitin and their antibacterial activity

“…38,39 Apparently, the integration of conducting PANI to β-chitin, which is inherently a biocompatible and sustainable natural polymer, together with their tunable antibacterial properties, render these composites to be desirable candidates for the development of wound care products. 3,35 In point of fact, our previous paper demonstrated the successful development of hydrogels from the biorefinery of squid pen wastes. The modified β-chitin-based biomaterial exhibited excellent biodegradability, self-healing property, and significantly accelerated the rate of wound healing.…”

“…33 Moreover, hydrogen bond interaction between amide groups of β-chitin and imino groups of PANI may likewise have contributed to the conductivity displayed by the composites. 35 However, it is important to note that there is an optimal concentration of aniline that led to a distinct conducting β-chitin-g-PANI composites.…”

Conductive Polymer‐Based Bioelectronic Platforms toward Sustainable and Biointegrated Devices: A Journey from Skin to Brain across Human Body Interfaces

“…In the skin medical treatments scenario, organic materials have been also exploited to assist the wound healing process [284,285] by supporting the local application of electrical stimuli to the target area with temporal and spatial control. [286,287] Furthermore, embedding dopants into the polymer matrix (e.g., chitosan (CH), [288,289] poly (2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic) acid (PAMPSA), [290,291] (3-Glycyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (GOPS)), [292] allows to electronically tune physicochemical properties to develop skin platforms to promote cell growth, [293] adhesion, [291] proliferation [75] and the correct orientation of fibroblasts making the remodeling process of the injured area more effective.…”

“…To increase the wound healing performances, PANI and PPy are often used in combination with other materials (chitosan (CH), [288,348,349] gelatine, [350] polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) [351] and/ or in different geometries such nanofibers [352][353][354] and scaffolds. [355,356] Recently, Georgiadouis et al developed a conductive PANI/CH nanofibrous membrane showing a controlled release of drugs and cell stimulation without requiring crosslinking agents to retain their integrity, thus allowing the use of fully protonated state of CH which results in a more efficient anti-bacterial effect than its deprotonated state [349] (Figure 7b).…”