Crosslinked Electrospun Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) Nanofibers Coated by Antibacterial Copper Nanoparticles

Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers were prepared via electrospinning of concentrated PVA solutions. The nanofibers were crosslinked to enhance their resistance against the moisture. The chemical crosslinking of the nanofibers was carried out using glutaraldehyde as crosslinking agent in the presence of hydrochloride acid. The chemical structure, water solubility, and morphology of the electrospun PVA nanofibers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer,water durability test, and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. In addition, the crosslinked nanofibers were coated by copper nanoparticles (CNPs) using electrospraying technique. For this purpose, colloidal CNPs were synthesized through the chemical reduction of copper ions in the presence of different stabilizers, i.e. poly (vinyl alcohol) and ethylene glycol (EG), in an aqueous media. The effect of the stabilizer concentration (0.001 and 0.005 M) and reduction temperature (25 and 70°C) were investigated on the CNP dispersion in the media using UV-visible spectroscopy. Furthermore, the dispersion of the CNPs on the PVA nanofibers was studied by means of SEM. The SEM micrographs showed that the nanofiber scould properly imprison the CNPs. Successful the proposed approach would be exploited to prepare polymer nanofibers incorporating metal nanoparticles which might have interesting properties such as antibacterial activity.