CARBONLETT, vol. 23, no. 1, pp.17-21, 2017

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ DOI:10.5714/CL.

Synthesis, characterization, and antibacterial performance of Ag-modified graphene oxide reinforced electrospun polyurethane nanofibers

Bishweshwar Pant¹, Mira Park², Rae-Sang Jang², Woo-Cheol Choi^2,3, Hak-Yong Kim^2,4,♠ and Soo-Jin Park^1,♠

Affiliation: ¹Department of Chemistry, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Korea
²Department of Organic Materials and Fiber Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea
³Department of Source Material Technology, DACC Carbon Co., Ltd., Jeonju 54853, Korea
⁴Department of BIN Convergence Technology, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea

Abstract: Polyurethane (PU) nanofibers containing graphene oxide (GO) and Ag doped functionalized reduced graphene oxide (Ag-RGO) were successfully prepared via the electrospinning technique. The uniform distribution of GO sheets along with Ag nanoparticle in the nano?bers was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and the elemental mapping technique. X-ray diffraction and thermal gravimetric analysis veri?ed the presence of GO and Ag in the bicomposite nano?brous mats. Antibacterial tests against Escherichia coli demonstrated that the addition of GO and Ag-RGO to the PU nano?ber greatly enhanced bactericidal efficiency. Overall, these features of the synthesized nano?bers make them a promising candidate material in the biomedical field for applications such as tissue engineering, wound healing, and drug delivery systems.

Keyword: electrospinning, Ag-RGO, nanocomposite, antibacterial, Escherichia coli