Electrospun Ag-doped SnO2 hollow nanofibers with high antibacterial activity

Abstract

With the continuous improvement in medical science in modern times, the spread of bacterial infection has become a matter of global concern. Therefore, the search for biological medical materials with antibacterial function has become a focus of intense research. In this work, pure SnO2 and Ag-doped SnO2 hollow nanofibers were fabricated by a combination of an electrospinning method and a calcination procedure, and the effects of the doped Ag on antibacterial activity were subsequently investigated. Through the process of high-temperature calcination, a high heating rate would lead to the formation of a hollow tubular structure in SnO2 fibers, and Ag2O would be reduced to Ag0 by a facile process with appropriate thermal treatment. Additionally, the existence of SnO2 as a tetragonal rutile structure was confirmed. On the basis of pure SnO2, doping with silver greatly improved the antibacterial activity of hollow nanofibers. The formation mechanism and the antibacterial mechanism of pure SnO2 and Ag-doped hollow nanofibers are also discussed. This study has broad application prospects for biological medicine.