Poly (ε-caprolactone)-CTAB montmorillonite-silver nanoparticles: A hybrid electrospun nanofibers for in vitro antibacterial activity

Electrospun nanofibers endowed with efficient antibacterial properties have found widespread biomedical applications. Poly (epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers are one of the most popular due to their distinct mechanical and chemical properties, especially in biotechnological applications. Herein, PCL hybrid electrospun nanofibers were fabricated successfully via the electrospinning method, and preparation parameters were optimized at various concentrations of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-modified montmorillonite (CTAB-Mt) and silver nanoparticles (AgNP) as a nanofillers for the first time. The nanofibers were characterized using SEM, FTIR, XPS, diameter distribution and contact angle measurements. It was found that 0.5% (w/w) CTAB-Mt and 1.0% AgNP (w/w) in the 15% (w/w) in PCL nanofiber is an ideal condition to obtain bead-free and uniform polymer nanofibers. Finally, based on the disc diffusion method, the antibacterial properties of nanofibers were tested against four Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The cytotoxic nature of the PCL hybrid nanofiber was studied against SV-40 cells using resazurin assay.