Nanoparticles in an antibiotic-loaded nanomesh for drug delivery

Antibiotic loaded nanomeshes were fabricated by electrospinning polycaprolactone, a biocompatible polymer, with 12.5% w/w Colistin, 1.4% w/w Vancomycin and either cationic or anionic gold nanoparticles in varying combinations. The resulting nanomeshes had different antibiotic release profiles, with citrate capped gold nanoparticles combined with Colistin having the highest sustained release over 14 days for a 4 mg, 1.5 cm² nanomesh. The electrospinning parameters were optimised to ensure the spinning of a homogenous mesh and the addition of antibiotics was confirmed through ¹H NMR and ATR-FTIR. This research, as a proof of concept, suggests an opportunity for fabricating nanomeshes which contain gold nanoparticles as a drug release mechanism for antibiotics.