Abstract:

Electrospinning is a process which produces nonwoven material from nano/microfibres. The aim of this study was to electrospin poly(vinyl alcohol) nano/microfibres material with small amount of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), and estimate the influence of Ag-NPs on the structures and antibacterial properties of nonwoven materials. It was found that the Ag-NPs concentration does not have a significant influence on the viscosity and morphologies of electrospun materials. The addition of Ag-NPs causes the formation of thinner PVA nano/microfibres. The antibacterial activity test showed that a small amount of Ag-NPs provides antibacterial properties to electrospun PVA nano/microfibres. Antibacterial properties were tested with different bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Proteus mirabilis ATCC 12453, Bacillus cereus ATCC 11778 and Candida albicans ATCC 10231. It was also noticed that the concentration of Ag-NPs in nonwoven materials affects antibacterial properties. Clearly superior antibacterial properties were obtained from nonwoven materials with a higher concentration of Ag-NPs.