Preparation and characterization of poly(vinyl alcohol)/modified clay electrospun nanocomposite nanofibrous mats for microbial protection

This research work is focused on the preparation of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposite nanofibrous mats by electrospinning method which was doped with varying concentration of Cloisite 30B and Cu-MMT nanoclays. Mechanical, physical, chemical and antibacterial properties of the nanocomposite nanofibrous mats were determined. Sodium-montmorillonite clay (Na-MMT) was modified with cupric chloride (CuCl2) through ion exchange method to form copper-montmorillonite (Cu-MMT). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and particle size analysis were performed to characterize the modified clay. The formation of smooth and bead-free nanoclay loaded PVA nanofibres was observed through SEM and FESEM. Both the clays loaded nanofibrous mats showed good antibacterial property against the Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria. These enhanced properties of the PVA nanocomposite nanofibrous mats can be used for the microbial protection applications.