Zwitterionic functional layer modified electrospun polyurethane nanofiber membrane incorporating silver nanoparticles for enhanced antibacterial applications

Nanofiber materials, with their porous nature and high specific surface area, can effectively adsorb and capture bacteria. Additionally, their antibacterial properties can be enhanced by incorporating substances with antibacterial effects and by surface modification with special chemical functional groups. Therefore, this study uses the electrospinning method to prepare polyurethane (PU) nanofiber antimicrobial membranes. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) will be incorporated into the PU nanofiber membranes through a green reduction method, followed by atmospheric plasma treatment to graft the zwitterionic material (2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine, MPC) with quaternary ammonium functional groups onto the surface. This process will result in the production of PMPC@PU/AgNPs nanofiber antimicrobial membranes. The results show that MPC grafted onto the surface of PU/AgNPs nanofiber membranes exhibits better antibacterial capability against Escherichia coli than the pristine PU/AgNPs nanofiber antimicrobial membranes, with an antibacterial efficiency reaching 99.68 ± 0.07 %. This is attributed to the synergistic effect provided by the combination of AgNPs within the PU nanofibers and the surface grafting of zwitterionic materials, leading to an antibacterial effectiveness close to 100 %. Therefore, the prepared PMPC@PU/AgNPs nanofiber antimicrobial membrane demonstrates the potential for applications in public health, specifically in areas such as food packaging materials, membrane filters and the biomedical field. •Nanofiber antimicrobial membranes are prepared by using the electrospinning method.•Grafting MPC onto nanofiber membranes enhanced antibacterial efficiency.•The antibacterial effectiveness of nanofiber membranes is close to 100 %.