Aqueous synthesis of silver nanoparticle embedded cationic polymer nanofibers and their antibacterial activity

This paper describes the one-pot, aqueous synthesis of cationic polymer nanofibers with embedded silver nanoparticles. Poly[2-(tert-butylaminoethyl) methacrylate] (PTBAM) was used as a cationic polymer substrate to reinforce the antimicrobial activity of the embedded silver nanoparticles. Electron microscope analyses revealed that the as-synthesized nanofibers had diameters of approximately 40 nm and lengths up to about 10 μm. Additionally, silver nanoparticles of approximately 8 nm in diameter were finely embedded into the prepared nanofibers. The embedded silver nanoparticles had a lower tendency to agglomerate than colloidal silver nanoparticles of comparable size. In addition, the nanofibers with embedded silver nanoparticles exhibited excellent antibacterial performance against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. Interestingly, the prepared nanofibers exhibited enhanced bactericidal performance compared with the silver-embedded poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanofibers, presumably because of the antibacterial properties of the PTBAM substrate.