Synthesis and antibacterial performance of size-tunable silver nanoparticles with electrospun nanofiber composites

A simple one-step method using by β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solution was used for preparing electrospun nanofiber (NF) composites containing silver nanoparticles by electrospinning. The β-CD acted as a stabilizing and reducing agent for the formation of silver nanoparticles. In addition, the average size of the silver nanoparticles could be tuned by changing the concentration of β-CD. The surface and pore properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy (XPS), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) measurements. The antimicrobial activities of NFs containing silver nanoparticles (Ag/NFs) against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) were evaluated by optical density testing.