First report of electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibers mats with chitin and chitosan nanowhiskers: Fabrication, characterization, and antibacterial activity

Abstract

Physical adsorption has shown to be facile and highly effective to deposit chitosan nanowhiskers (CsNWs, 60 % deacetylated, length: 247 nm, thickness: 4-12 nm, width:15 nm) on electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibers (CANFs, 560 nm) to effect complete surface charge reversal from negatively charged CANFs (-40 mV) to positively charged CsNWs-adsorbed CANFs (+8 mV). The CsNWs coverage did not alter the smooth and homogeneous morphology of fibers, as observed from SEM images. Biological assays showed the CsNWs covered nanofibers were effective against the Gram-negative bacterium E. coli, reducing 99 % of colony forming units (CFU) in 24 h and atoxic to healthy Vero cells. The use of CsNWs to modify cellulose fiber surfaces has been proved to be efficient and may be applied to a broad scope of fields, especially as biomaterials and biomedical applications.

Keywords: 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (PubChem CID: 64965); Cellulose acetate; Cellulose acetate (PubChem CID: 139600838); Chitin (PubChem CID: 6857375); Chitin nanowhiskers; Chitosan (PubChem CID: 71853); Chitosan nanowhiskers; Electrospun nanofibers mats; Hydrochloric acid (PubChem CID: 313); Physical adsorption; Sodium hydroxide (PubChem CID: 14798).