Curcumin and Silver Doping Enhance the Spinnability and Antibacterial Activity of Melt-Electrospun Polybutylene Succinate Fibers.

Maike-Elisa Ostheller,Ahmed H Hassanin,Robert Groten,Gunnar Seide,Abdelrahman M Abdelgawad,Naveen Kumar Balakrishnan

doi:10.3390/nano12020283

Abstract

Melt electrospinning is a polymer processing technology for the manufacture of microfibers and nanofibers. Additives are required to reduce the melt viscosity and increase its conductivity in order to minimize the fiber diameter, and can also impart additional beneficial properties. We investigated the preparation of polybutylene succinate (PBS) microfibers incorporating different weight percentages of two multifunctional additives (the organic dye curcumin and inorganic silver nanoparticles) using a single-nozzle laboratory-scale device. We determined the influence of these additives on the polymer melt viscosity, electrical conductivity, degradation profile, thermal behavior, fiber diameter, and antibacterial activity. The formation of a Taylor cone followed by continuous fiber deposition was observed for compounds containing up to 3% (w/w) silver nanoparticles and up to 10% (w/w) curcumin, the latter achieving the minimum average fiber diameter of 12.57 µm. Both additives reduced the viscosity and increased the electrical conductivity of the PBS melt, and also retained their specific antibacterial properties when compounded and spun into fibers. This is the first report describing the effect of curcumin and silver nanoparticles on the properties of PBS fibers manufactured using a single-nozzle melt-electrospinning device. Our results provide the basis to develop environmentally benign antibacterial melt-electrospun PBS fibers for biomedical applications.

Highlights

Electrospinning is a cost-effective, versatile and efficient method for the preparation of fibers in the low micrometer to nanometer range [1,2,3]
Since compounding takes place at a lower temperature than melt electrospinning, possible degradation due to the higher temperature as well as repeated thermal processing of the compounds is again investigated. It is examined whether the effect of both additives is affected by the repeated heat processing. It will be investigated whether the final fiber diameter of polybutylene succinate (PBS) is affected by the additives
The behavior of the PBS-curcumin compounds probably reflects the degradation of curcumin at prolonged high temperatures as previously reported [37], which we propose may lead to the accumulation of byproducts that promote the degradation of

Summary

Introduction

Electrospinning is a cost-effective, versatile and efficient method for the preparation of fibers in the low micrometer to nanometer range [1,2,3]. These highly flexible fibers feature an enormous surface area, making them suitable for applications in biomedicine [4], filtration and separation [5], textile manufacturing, electronics and energy [6,7]. Electrospinning involves the creation of an electric field by establishing a potential difference between the end of a needle capillary and a collector [8]. This confers a surface charge upon a polymer. The continuous filaments are deposited as a nonwoven-like material on the collector [9]

Methods

Results

Conclusion