Issue 13, 2016

Designer porous antibacterial membranes derived from thermally induced phase separation of PS/PVME blends decorated with an electrospun nanofiber scaffold

Abstract

We report the development of porous membranes by thermally induced phase separation of a PS/PVME (polystyrene/polyvinyl[methyl ether]) blend, which is a typical LCST mixture. The morphology of the membrane after etching out the PVME phase was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. To give the membrane an antibacterial surface, polystyrene (PS) and poly[vinyl(methyl ether)]-alt-maleic anhydride (PVME-MAH) with silver nanoparticles (nAg) were electrospun on the membrane surface. Pure water flux was evaluated by using a cross-flow membrane setup. The microgrooved fibers changed the flux across the membrane depending on the surface properties. The antibacterial properties of the membrane were confirmed by the reduction in the colony count of E. coli. The SEM images show the disruption of the bacterial cell membrane and the antibacterial mechanism was discussed.

Graphical abstract: Designer porous antibacterial membranes derived from thermally induced phase separation of PS/PVME blends decorated with an electrospun nanofiber scaffold

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Nov 2015
Accepted
11 Jan 2016
First published
14 Jan 2016

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 10865-10872

Designer porous antibacterial membranes derived from thermally induced phase separation of PS/PVME blends decorated with an electrospun nanofiber scaffold

P. Xavier, S. Jain, V. Srinivas T, K. Chatterjee and S. Bose, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 10865 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA24084K

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