Electrospinning of polylactide fibers containing silver nanoparticles

Biodegradable polylactide (PLA) nanofibers containing silver nanoparticles were prepared by electrospinning. Solutions of PLA in dichloromethane/N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) with different amounts of silver nitrate (AgNO3) were used to spin nanofibers. DMAc was used as a reducing agent for Ag+ ions in the PLA solution. In the dilute solution system, the intrinsic viscosity and Huggins constant of the PLA/Ag solutions decreased at AgNO3 concentrations < 6 wt% whereas they increased at 9 wt% AgNO3. On the other hand, dichloromethane/DMAc was found to be a good solvent with a similar solvating power to the Huggins constant results. The solution properties of the viscosity and electrical conductivity of the spinning solutions are strongly affected by the addition of AgNO3. The mean diameters of the PLA/Ag nanofibers containing 0, 3, 6 and 9 wt% of AgNO3 were 400.9 +/- 0.1, 352.6 +/- 0.3, 313.1 +/- 0.2 and 482.8 +/- 0.2 nm, respectively. The silver nanoparticles contributed to the formation of thinner PLA/Ag nanofibers. When the PLA nanofibers contained 6 wt% AgNO3, silver nanoparticles with an average size of 4.9 nm were distributed homogeneously in the PLA nanaofibers.