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. 2024 Feb 1;16(3):414.
doi: 10.3390/polym16030414.

Polyelectrolyte-Surfactant Complex Nanofibrous Membranes for Antibacterial Applications

Qiaohua Qiu  1 , Zhengkai Wang  1 , Liying Lan  1
Affiliations

Polyelectrolyte-Surfactant Complex Nanofibrous Membranes for Antibacterial Applications

Qiaohua Qiu et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Polyelectrolyte-surfactant complexes (PESCs) have garnered significant attention due to their extensive range of biological and industrial applications. Most present applications are predominantly used in liquid or emulsion states, which limits their efficacy in solid material-based applications. Herein, pre-hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile (HPAN) and quaternary ammonium salts (QAS) are employed to produce PESC electrospun membranes via electrospinning. The formation process of PESCs in a solution is observed. The results show that the degree of PAN hydrolysis and the varying alkyl chain lengths of surfactants affect the rate of PESC formation. Moreover, PESCs/PCL hybrid electrospun membranes are fabricated, and their antibacterial activities against both Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are investigated. The resulting electrospun membranes exhibit high bactericidal efficacy, which enables them to serve as candidates for future biomedical and filtration applications.

Keywords: antibacterial; hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile; polyelectrolyte; quaternary ammonium salt; surfactant.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Schematic illustration of the synthesis of PESCs and the fabrication process of PESC electrospun fibers.
Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Conductivity and (b) T% of HPAN-CTAC solution with different NaOH solution concentrations. (c) Photographs of the transformation of HPAN-CTAC solution (the point at which the solution system begins to exhibit turbidity is indicated by the dotted red box).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Conductivity and (b) T% of HPAN-CTAC solution with different mass ratios of PAN to NaOH. (c) Photographs of the transformation of HPAN-CTAC solution (the point at which the solution system begins to exhibit turbidity is indicated by the dotted red box).
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Conductivity and (b) T% of HPAN-CTAC solution with different raw material addition order. (c) Photographs of the transformation of HPAN-CTAC solution (the point at which the solution system begins to exhibit turbidity is indicated by the dotted red box).
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) Conductivity and (b) T% of HPAN-QAS solution with different alkyl chain lengths. (c) Photographs of the transformation of HPAN-QAS solution (the point at which the solution system begins to exhibit turbidity is indicated by the dotted red box).
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a,b) FTIR spectra and (c,d) TGA curves of related samples.
Figure 6
Figure 6
SEM images (a) and diameter distributions (b) of HPAN-QAS nanofibrous membranes; SEM images (c) and diameter distributions (d) of HPAN-QAS/PCL nanofibrous membranes.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Mechanical properties of PCL (a) and HPAN-CTAC/PCL (b) nanofibrous membranes.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Inhibition zone of HPAN-QAS/PCL (1), PCL (2), and control (3) nanofibrous membranes toward E. coli (a) and S. aureus (b). The scale bar is 1 cm.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Photographs of agar plates of HPAN-QAS/PCL, PCL, and control nanofibrous membranes toward E. coli (a) and S. aureus (b). The scale bar is 1 cm.
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