Polyurethane–silver fibers prepared by infiltration and reduction of silver nitrate

Silver-incorporating polyurethane fibers were prepared by infiltration of silver nitrate on electrospun polyurethane fibers and reduction with sodium borohydride. They were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray system. The Ag nanoparticles prepared by reduction of silver nitrate showed nano-sized crystals of 4–10 nm in diameter. However, larger aggregated Ag particles of 50–200 nm were also found to be dispersed in the polyurethane matrix when Ag particles were formed in electrospun fibers by the infiltration–reduction process of silver nitrate. As a result, infiltration method of silver nitrate into the electrospun fibers was significantly effective to produce silver-incorporating fibers due to a high specific surface area of fibers.