Preparation and characterization of electrospun PLGA/silver composite nanofibers for biomedical applications

Abstract

The main objective of the present paper is to represent a new class of Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA) nanofibers containing silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) by electrospinning process. Silver nanoparticles were well loaded without any chemical and structural modifications into PLGA polymer matrix to form an organic-inorganic nanocomposite. Syntheses of silver NPs was carried out by exploiting reduction ability of N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent which is mainly utilized in decomposition of silver nitrate precursor into silver NPs. Typsically, a sol-gel consisting of different concentration of AgNO3 in PLGA has been electrospun, so, silver NPs have been created in the nanofibers. Observable beads can be noticed with high silver nitrate contents. TEM image of one of the modified nanofiber confirmed that NPs are present in/on the nanofiber. Overall, the size of the nanofibers was within the range of 50 to 100 nm, while the size of silver nanoparticles was within range 5 to 10 nm. The said realized results strongly recommend the use of obtained nanofiber mats as antimicrobial agents in biomaterials or water purifying systems. © 2013 by ESG.