Synthesis and characterization of polystyrene with embedded silver nanoparticle nanofibers to utilize as antibacterial and wound healing biomaterial

Herein, silver nanoparticles (Ag) embedded in polystyrene (PS) nanofiber composites have been prepared by an electrospinning technique using N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as a solvent and safe reducing agent. Electrospinning of polystyrene (PS) solutions is conducted using different electrospinning parameters such as polymer concentration in the electrospinning solution; solution feed rate, and electrical field strength. Then silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were embedded into PS nanofibers to obtain an AgNPs-PS nanofiber composite as a powerful, cheap, and nontoxic bioactive material. PS nanofibers and AgNPs-PS nanofibers composite were characterized by using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Also, AgNPs were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and EDX analysis. Results showed that PS nanofibers were obtained with concentrations ranging from 10–30 wt.% in DMF solvent. Also, an AgNPs-PS nanofiber composite has been produced from its solutions by using DMF at the optimum value. The prepared AgNPs have a 21–40 nm particle size and a semi-spherical shape. In addition, the antibacterial activity of AgNPs-PS nanofibers towards both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria has been increased. Therefore, this nanocomposite can be used as a powerful bioactive material in biomedical fields.