Synthesis and characterization of antimicrobial wound dressing material based on silver nanoparticles loaded gum Arabic nanofibers

Abstract

Gum Arabic (GA) is a biocompatible polymer with the necessary requirements for a wound dressing. However, electrospinning of GA is a bottleneck due to its physico-chemical properties. The aim of this study was to fabricate an antimicrobial nanofibers mat from GA with suitable porosity, water absorption, water vapor permeability and mechanical strength. For this purpose, the composition of polycaprolacton (PCL)-coated GA-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers mat was optimized based on the possible highest porosity, water absorption and water vapor permeability, and then silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) loaded nanofibers mat was prepared based on this composition. The synthesis of AgNPs was supported by UV-vis and ICP analyses. The structure of mat and its constituents were characterized by FE-SEM, XRD and FTIR. The results showed that the average diameter of nanofibers was in the range of 150 to 250 nm with the porosity, water absorption and water vapor permeability of 37.34%, 547.30% and 2235.50 g/m².day, respectively. The antimicrobial activity of mat against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans was proved. Moreover, the cytotoxicity of mat showed the good biocompatibility for the mouse embryonic fibroblast cells. This study introduced PCL-coated GA-PVA-AgNPs as an effective antimicrobial mat alternative for commercial wound dressing.

Keywords: Antimicrobial; Electrospinning; Gum Arabic; Nanofiber; Silver nanoparticle; Wound dressing.