Martina
ABRIGO, et al
Antibacterial Nanofibers
Smart dressings speed healing of chronic wounds
Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology are developing
innovative nanofibre meshes that might draw bacteria out of
wounds and speed up the healing process.
The research is the focus of Swinburne PhD candidate Martina
Abrigo, who received the university’s Chancellor's Research
Scholarship to undertake this work.
Using a technique called electrospinning – in which polymer
filaments 100 times thinner than a human hair are squeezed out
of an electrified nozzle – Ms Abrigo and her colleagues have
made nanofibre meshes that can draw bacteria from a wound.
In the first phase of research polymer nanofibres were placed
over the top of films of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium
involved in chronic wound infection. The researchers found the
bacteria quickly attached to the fibres.
When the fibres were smaller than the individual bacteria, fewer
cells attached and those that did attach died as they attempted
to wrap around the fibre.
In the second phase, the tiny nanofibres were coated with
different compounds and tested on the bacteria Escherichia coli,
also commonly found in chronic wounds.
The researchers found these bacteria rapidly transferred onto
fibres coated with allylamine, independent of the fibre size,
but did not attach to fibres coated with acrylic acid.
In the third phase of research, the nanofibre meshes have been
tested on tissue-engineered skin models in a partnership with
researchers at the University of Sheffield in the UK. The
results of this research are yet to be published, but indicate
that similar effects could be seen in living tissue.
“For most people, wounds heal quickly. But for some people, the
repair process gets stuck and so wounds take much longer to
heal. This makes them vulnerable to infection,” Mas Abrigo said.
“We hope this work will lead to smart wound dressings that could
prevent infections. Doctors could put a nanomesh dressing on a
wound and simply peel it off to get rid of the germs.”
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http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsami.5b00453
http://scitation.aip.org/content/avs/journal/bip/10/4/10.1116/1.4927218?TRACK=RSS
Bacterial
response to different surface chemistries fabricated by
plasma polymerization on electrospun nanofibers
Martina
Abrigo1, Peter Kingshott1 and Sally L. McArthur
Control over bacterial attachment and proliferation onto
nanofibrous materials constitutes a major challenge for a
variety of applications, including filtration membranes,
protective clothing, wound dressings, and tissue engineering
scaffolds. To develop effective devices, the interactions that
occur between bacteria and nanofibers with different
morphological and physicochemical properties need to be
investigated. This paper explores the influence of fiber surface
chemistry on bacterial behavior. Different chemical
functionalities were generated on the surface of electrospun
polystyrene nanofibers through plasma polymerization of four
monomers (acrylic acid, allylamine, 1,7-octadiene, and
1,8-cineole). The interactions of Escherichia coli with the
surface modified fibers were investigated through a combination
of scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning
microscopy. Fiber wettability, surface charge, and chemistry
were found to affect the ability of bacterial cells to attach
and proliferate throughout the nanofiber meshes. The highest
proportion of viable cells attachment occurred on the
hydrophilic amine rich coating, followed by the hydrophobic
octadiene. The acrylic acid coating rich in carboxyl groups
showed a significantly lower attraction of bacterial cells. The
1,8-cineole retained the antibacterial activity of the monomer,
resulting with a high proportion of dead isolated cells attached
onto the fibers. Results showed that the surface chemistry
properties of nanofibrous membranes can be strategically tuned
to control bacterial behavior.

KR101336251
METHOD FOR FABRICATION OF ELECTROSPUN POLYSTYRENE
NANOFIBER AND METHOD FOR FABRICATION OF ELECTROSPUN
POLYSTYRENE-QUANTUM DOT HYBRID NANOFIBER USING STYRENE
MONOMER
Inventor: LEE TAE WOO, et al.
Applicant: POSTECH ACAD IND FOUND
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing
electrospun polystyrene nanofibers and a method for
manufacturing electrospun polystyrene-quantum dot hybrid
nanofibers using a styrene monomer, without using a solvent,
wherein the method for manufacturing electrospun
polystyrene-quantum dot hybrid nanofibers comprises the steps
of: manufactuirng a polystyrene-quantum dot composite by heating
the mixture of liquid styrene monomer and a quantum dot; and a
electrospinning the polystyrene-quantum dot composite.