Synthesis of antibacterial poly((2-methylsulfinyl)ethyl acrylate-co-acrylic acid)-based electrospun nanofibers

DMSO-inspired polymer is frequently applied in advanced biomedical aspects due to its highly hydrophilic, excellent biocompatibility, and negligible cytotoxicity nature. Herein, our study aimed for the first time to synthesize electrospun poly((2-methylsulfinyl)ethyl acrylate-co-acrylic acid) (PMSEA-AA) nanofibers as wound dressing materials. PAA was initially grafted through a steglich esterification reaction to obtain poly(2-(methylthio)ethyl acrylate-co-acrylic acid) copolymer (PMTEA-AA). Subsequently, the obtained copolymer was further oxidized and exposed to electrospinning to give PMSEA-AA nanofiber-containing sulfoxide groups. The chemical structure of as-obtained polymers was carefully confirmed by FTIR, UV–vis, 1 H-NMR, TGA, DSC, and GPC. Further, PMSEA-AA nanofibers were observed with remarkable mechanical, hydrophilic, cell viability, and antibacterial behaviors. The tensile strength and elongation at a break for PMSEA-AA nanofibers were recorded as 9 MPa and 30%, which are higher compared to PAA fibers (6.33, 20%). The cell growth of PMTEA-AA nanofiber was considerably increased concerning pure PAA nanofiber approving the nontoxic capability due to the hydrophobicity nature and high surface area that can lead to effective contact with the cancer cells. Also, PMSEA-AA nanofiber could achieve superior bacterial inhibition zones of 12 and 9 mm for S. aureus and E. coli , respectively, compared to PAA. PMSEA-AA nanofibers could discover biomedical and pharmaceutical applications for wound healing materials, tissue engineering, and transdermal drug delivery system for skin and oral.