Fabrication and evaluation of antibacterial electrospun fibers for wound healing applications

Aim and Background: Bacterial infection delays wound healing and even leads to life-threatening complications and death. Currently, the clinical strategies for treating chronic wounds are limited. Therefore, efficient therapeutic methods are necessary to increase the antibacterial activity and wound healing properties of the current materials. Hence, nanofibrous scaffolds can be a suitable candidate to be studied as wound dressings. It is reported that copper ions in the nanoscale sizes play an important role in several physiological processes, including angiogenesis, growth factor induction, and extracellular matrix remodeling, that modulate wound healing and tissue repair. The objective of this study is to fabricate and evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of electrospun fibers containing copper nanoparticles for wound healing applications. Methods: Polyvinylalcohol/Polyamide blended nanofibers containing various concentrations of copper nanoparticles were fabricated by the electrospinning method. FT-IR, SEM, XRD, swelling, degradation, and release profiles of prepared nanofibers were conducted to evaluate their physicochemical properties. Moreover, the antimicrobial activity of prepared scaffolds was tested against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria using the disk diffusion test. Results and discussion: This research demonstrated successful loading of copper nanoparticles at high concentration within nanofibrous scaffolds with random-oriented fiber morphologies. Moreover, the excellent bactericidal and prolonged bacterial growth inhibition properties of the nanofiber suggest their suitability as a sustained antibacterial wound dressing biomaterial. Conclusion: Overall, the findings support the idea that electrospun nanofibers can be used as ideal candidates for loading wound healing materials for tissue regeneration and wound healing applications