Layer-By-Layer Assembled, Amphiphilic And Antibacterial Hybrid Electrospun Mat Made From Polypropylene And Chitosan Fibers

Abstract In this study, hybrid fiber mat (HFPP-CS) consisting of both chlorinated polypropylene and chitosan fibers (FPP-Cl and FCS) is obtained by assembling layer-by-layer (LBL) for the first time using electrospinning process. Morphological, wettability, structural and thermal properties of HFPP-CS are investigated in detail by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), water contact angle (WCA) measurement, fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses, respectively, comparing with FPP-Cl and FCS. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of all samples was evaluated against to gram positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and gram negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. SEM analysis proves to HFPP-CS has a circular and smooth morphology and also comprises of microscale FPP-Cl and nanoscale FCS layers. The incorporation of nano-FCS layer on micro-FPP-Cl layer leads to diminution in the hydrophobicity, but enhancement in the thermostability and glass transition temperature of the resulting fiber mat. The antibacterial activity results show that HFPP-CS has inhibition effect against to S. aureus and E. coli. In general, it is anticipated that the prepared amphiphilic and antibacterial HFPP-CS can be employed as potential biomaterial for a variety of bioengineering applications.