Non-woven Membranes Electrospun from Polylactic Acid Incorporating Silver Nanoparticles as Biocide

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this research, we describe the electrospinning processing of polylactic acid (PLA) and the influence of silver nanoparticles on the morphology and microstructure of produced non woven membranes thus produced. The PLA was electrospun from a chloroform solution and a filamentary and granular morphology was obtained, the filaments having an average diameter of 1.25 μm, When silver nanoparticles (of ca. 12 nm size) were incorporated, the filaments diameter was reduced to an average of 0.65 μm, and the density of beads was also reduced. The membranes were rather amorphous, as revealed by X-ray scattering, presumably due to the quenching process associated with the electrospinning process. Water contact angle measurements showed that silver nanoparticles induced significant hidrophobicity in the membranes as neat PLA membrane had a contact angle of 54° and PLA/Ag membrane exhibited an angle of 115°.