Aqueous Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticle Embedded Cationic Polymer Nanofibers and Their Antibacterial Activity

This paper describes the one-pot, aqueous synthesis of cationic polymer nanofibers with embedded silver nanoparticles. Poly­[2-(<i>tert</i>-butylaminoethyl) methacrylate] (PTBAM) was used as a cationic polymer substrate to reinforce the antimicrobial activity of the embedded silver nanoparticles. Electron microscope analyses revealed that the as-synthesized nanofibers had diameters of approximately 40 nm and lengths up to about 10 μm. Additionally, silver nanoparticles of approximately 8 nm in diameter were finely embedded into the prepared nanofibers. The embedded silver nanoparticles had a lower tendency to agglomerate than colloidal silver nanoparticles of comparable size. In addition, the nanofibers with embedded silver nanoparticles exhibited excellent antibacterial performance against Gram-negative <i>Escherichia coli</i> and Gram-positive <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>. Interestingly, the prepared nanofibers exhibited enhanced bactericidal performance compared with the silver-embedded poly­(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanofibers, presumably because of the antibacterial properties of the PTBAM substrate