Comparison of fabrication methods for the effective loading of Ag onto PVA nanofibers

Abstract

We investigated and compared three different methods for synthesizing Ag/PVA nanofibers by effectively dispersing and loading Ag particles onto PVA nanofibers and preventing the detachment of Ag from the nanofibers. The three methods were: (a) the solution reduction method (Method 1) in which the reduction of Ag+ was conducted before electrospinning, resulting in mixing the polymer and the Ag nanoparticles in the electrospinning solution; (b) the immersion method (Method 2) in which electrospun PVA nanofibers were immersed in the Ag+ solution, resulting in loading the Ag particles onto the PVA nanofibers; and (c) the nanofiber reduction method (Method 3) in which the Ag+/PVA solution underwent electrospinning followed by the reduction process with Ag+/PVA nanofibers. All of the electrospun nanofibers had a crosslinked structure that resulted from the chemical reaction of glutaraldehyde with the hydroxyl group of PVA, to prevent dissolution in the aqueous solution. Fourier transform infrared spectra provided evidence of the successful formation of the crosslinked structure of the nanofibers, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the loading of Ag nanoparticles onto the nanofibers. The release profiles were investigated by inductively coupled plasma, and the morphology of the nanofibers was observed by scanning electron microscopy. Method 3 had the best performances for loading Ag particles onto the nanofibers and for minimizing the loss of Ag nanoparticles from the nanofibers. These findings identified an effective method for fabricating metal/polymer composite nanofibers, and will allow the expansion of the applications of metal/polymeric composite nanofibers.

Silver Nanoparticle-Anchored Human Hair Kerateine/PEO/PVA Nanofibers for Antibacterial Application and Cell Proliferation

“…The higher proportion of HHK in the HHK/PEO/PVA ternary polymer system made the nanofibers more susceptible to the corrosion of acid and alkali than the nanofibers prepared in the literature [ 17 ]. These results indicated that the H + ions produced during the silver nitrate treatment and the excess alkali added to neutralize the H + ions had an etching effect on the fiber surface [ 39 ].…”

Self-Cleaning Properties of Electrospun PVA/TiO2 and PVA/ZnO Nanofibers Composites

“…It was analyzed that there were successful chemical interactions of functional groups between PVA and ZnO & TiO 2 NPs, as shown in Figure 5b–g. The spectra showed that in the neat PVA nanofibers, the bands at about 3320, 2940, 1437, 1093, and 850 cm −1 showed the vibrations of –OH, –CH 2 CH, C–C & C–O functional groups of PVA, respectively [18]. The new intense broad bands at 1100 cm −1 to 1000 cm −1 and 750 cm −1 are assigned to metal oxide of the of Zn & Ti, because these oxides have a moderate dipole moment.…”

Fabrication of Antibacterial Nanofibers Composites by Functionalizing the Surface of Cellulose Acetate Nanofibers

“…2015, Augozi et al. 2014) and the characteristics peaks of C=O, C–CH 3 and C−O‐C of cellulose acetate at 1775, 1370 and 1100 cm −1 , respectively in all resultant …”