Surface functionalization of electrospun PAN nanofibers with ZnO–Ag heterostructure nanoparticles: synthesis and antibacterial study

Abstract

In this work, we have prepared polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymer nanofibers by electrospinning method. The surface of the electrospun PAN nanofibers membrane has been functionalized with ZnO–Ag heterostructure nanoparticles by using three different chemical pathways such as reflux, blending, hydrothermal methods and accordingly the prepared composite nanofibers membranes were named as PAN/ZnO–Ag (R), PAN/ZnO–Ag (B) and PAN/ZnO–Ag (H) respectively. The obtained heterostructure nanoparticles functionalized PAN nanofibers membranes were characterized using ATR-FTIR, XRD, FESEM and TEM analytical techniques. From the FESEM and TEM images it was clearly observed that 20–30 nm size spherical nanoparticles have been decorated uniformly on the surface of PAN nanofibers. XRD study confirmed the formation of ZnO–Ag mixed/hybrid nanoparticles on PAN nanofibers surface. The ZnO–Ag heterostructure nanoparticles functionalized PAN nanofibers membranes were used for antibacterial application. It was observed from inhibition zone study that the ZnO–Ag heterostructure nanoparticles functionalized PAN nanofibers membrane shows excellent antibacterial properties towards both gram-negative Escherichia coli and gram-positive Micrococcus luteus bacteria than their single component counterparts. Thus this study demonstrated the simple and cost-effective approach to develop antibacterial functional membrane that has many potential applications in water and air filtration, protective mask, textile and packaging industries.