Polyurethane nanofibers incorporated with ZnAg composite nanoparticles for antibacterial wound dressing applications

Present research proposes polyurethane nanofibers based nanocomposite containing silver nanoparticles/zinc oxide (ZnAg) composite nanoparticles for antibacterial wound dressing applications. The ZnAg composite nanoparticles were synthesized and incorporated into polyurethane nanofibers for fabricating PUZnAg composite nanofibers. The samples were studied by SEM, TEM, XRD analysis and antibacterial tests. The XRD and TEM results confirmed synthesis of the composite nanoparticles and their incorporation into PU nanofibers. SEM micrographs depicted regular and bead-free nanofibers. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to determine antibacterial performance of the composite nanofibers against E. coli, S. aureus and B. subtilis strains. The PUZnAg2 sample, which contained 8 wt% of ZnAg, demonstrated 100% bactericidal properties against all the three test strains. Similarly, the PUZnAg samples effectively inhibited growth of the tested bacterial species in liquid medium for up to 72 h.