PCL/HAP-MMT Electrospun Scaffold with Chitosan-mediated nanosilver for Antibacterial Activity

Abstract

An electrospun biopolymer scaffold reinforced with antibacterial activity is an excellent model for tissue engineering applications as it supports local tissue regeneration while providing a barrier for microbes. In our study, we fabricated a novel Polycaprolactone/Hydroxyapatite-Montmorillonite (PCL/HAP-MMT) electrospun nanofiber (NF) system embedded with chitosan-mediated silver nanoparticles (C-AgNPs) with antibacterial activity as a potential scaffold for bone tissue engineering (BTE). Initially, C-AgNPs were synthesized using chitosan as a reducing agent. The HAP-MMT nanocomposite system was prepared using a modified wet chemical in-situ preparation method. A neat polymer blend containing 25% (w/v) PCL and the mixture of HAP-MMT 5% (w/v) was prepared by dissolving it in a solvent mixture containing chloroform and 90% (v/v) acetic acid solution. This blend was successfully electrospun to obtain unique fiber textures. The prepared scaffolds were characterized by SEM, XRD, and FT-IR. The PCL/HAP-MMT NFs showed a reduced diameter (1121 ± 48.93 nm) compared to PCL NFs (2940 ± 63.40 nm) and lowered crystallinity observed from XRD patterns suggesting an amorphous NF system. Synthesized C-AgNPs were surface coated on the neat electrospun scaffold to obtain the PCL/HAP-MMT/C-AgNP(coat) scaffold that showed antibacterial activity of (7 ± 1.26 mm) against gram-positive S. aureus, (11 ± 1.34 mm) against gram-negative E. coli, and no activity in the scaffold exclusive of nanosilver. Thus, the results of the present study will be beneficial to further BTE scaffolds with wound healing ability.