Characterization and antibacterial activity of rice grain-shaped ZnS nanoparticles immobilized inside the polymer electrospun nanofibers

Present work introduces the fabrication of antibacterial nanofibers composite of poly(vinyl acetate) doped with in situ-synthesized rice grain-shaped ZnS nanoparticles using electrospinning technique. FE-SEM and TEM analyses revealed that the ZnS nanoparticles were uniformly incorporated inside the polymer nanofibers. The antibacterial activity of as-fabricated nanofibers composite was investigated under indoor light activation towards Gram-negative ( E. coli ) and Gram-positive ( S. aureus ) bacteria. Such strategy for immobilizing ceramic nanoparticles inside polymer nanofibers might be helpful to overcome the photocorrosion and recovery problems of ZnS-based materials. Graphical abstract Fabrication of antibacterial composite nanofibers of rice grain-shaped ZnS nanoparticles and PVAc using versatile electrospinning technique.