Electrospun Metal-Organic Framework-Fabric Nanocomposites as Efficient Bactericides

In this work, we utilized electrospinning to developadvanced compositemembranes of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) loaded with postmetalated metal-organicframeworks (MOFs), specifically UiO-66(COOH)(2)-Ag and ZIF-8-Ag.This innovative technique led to the creation of highly stable PVC/MOFs-Agmembrane composites, which were thoroughly characterized using variousanalytical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, powderX-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectronspectroscopy, porosity analysis, and water contact angle measurement.The results verified the successful integration of MOF crystals withinthe nanofibrous PVC membranes. The obtained composites exhibited largerfiber diameters for 5 and 10% MOF loadings and a smaller diameterfor 20% loading. Additionally, they displayed greater average poresizes than traditional PVC membranes across most MOF loading percentages.Furthermore, we examined the antibacterial properties of the fabricatedmembranes at different MOFs-Ag loadings. The findings revealed thatthe membranes demonstrated significant antibacterial activity up to95% against both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria as the MOFs-Ag loading increased, even when maintaininga constant silver concentration. This indicates a contact-based inhibitionmechanism. The outcomes of this study have crucial implications forthe development of novel, stable, and highly effective antibacterialmaterials, which could serve as superior alternatives for face masksand be integrated into materials requiring regular decontamination,as well as potential water filtration systems.