Water-soluble lignin quaternary ammonium salt for electrospun morphology-controllable antibacterial polyvinyl alcohol/lignin quaternary ammonium salt nanofibers

초록

Water-soluble lignin quaternary ammonium salts (LQ) were synthesized for use in the fabrication of electrospun morphology-controllable antibacterial polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/lignin nanofibers in a green solvent. LQ, which had adequate quaternary ammonium groups and good water solubility, exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial strains as confirmed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, field-emission transmission electron microscopy, and agar diffusion. The minimum inhibitory concentration of LQ against Staphylococcus aureus was 47.90 mu g/mL which was comparable with those of other macromolecular antibacterial agents. The LQ-incorporated PVA nanofibers were electrospun in water. The nanofibers diameter, which was between 281 and 143 nm, was adjusted by varying the amount of LQ added. The thermal stabilities of the PVA/LQ nanofibers were significantly enhanced, and the PVA/LQ nanofibers exhibited excellent antibac-terial activity against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial strains. The inhibition rates of nanofiber mats against bacterial strains were in the range of 85%-95%. In addition, the nanofiber mats showed good in vitro biocompatibility with the human embryonic kidney cells. Therefore, the PVA/LQ nanofibers produced using green solvents have controllable morphology, outstanding thermal stability, antibacterial activity, and biocompatibility, indicating their considerable potential in biomedical application.

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