Incorporation of silver-loaded ZnO rods into electrospun nylon-6 spider-web-like nanofibrous mat using hydrothermal process

• Ag and ZnO particles were hydrothermally deposited on nylon-6 fibers.
• One-step deposition of metal and metal oxide particles on fiber surface was carried out.
• The composite has good antibacterial and photocatalytic efficiency.
• It can be applied for potential water filter media.

Silver-doped zinc oxide rods were incorporated in a nylon-6 electrospun mat by a facile hydrothermal process. The rods exhibited excellent characteristics as a durable filter media with good antibacterial properties. ZnO nano-seeds blended with a nylon-6 solution were typically able to form ZnO-NPs-embedded spider-web-like nanonets during electrospinning. The simultaneous crystal growth of Ag NPs and ZnO rods from their precursor solutions on the surface of as-fabricated electrospun ZnO/nylon-6 fibers was carried out via a hydrothermal process. FE-SEM, TEM, UV–visible spectra, and photoluminescence spectra not only confirmed the formation of ZnO-nano-seeds-loaded electrospun nylon-6 composite fibers but also showed that ZnO rods doped with Ag NPs (approximately 50 nm in size) were grown on the surface of the nylon-6 composite fibers during hydrothermal treatment. The antibacterial properties of different mats were tested against Escherichia coli. The as-synthesized Ag-NP-loaded nanocomposite revealed better antibacterial properties than those of composite mat without Ag NPs. The excellent stability of Ag-loaded ZnO rods (caused by ZnO nano-seeds) on the surface of electrospun fibers provides a new dimension in the fabrication of inorganic/organic nanocomposite.

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