Antibacterial and Antioxidant Composite Fiber Prepared from Polyurethane and Polyacrylonitrile Containing Tea Polyphenols

Antibacterial and antioxidant properties exert an indispensable effect on biomedical and packaging materials which are mainly made of fiber-based fabrics. The current research illustrates a novel type of composite fiber which was prepared from thermoplastic polyurethane (PU), polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and tea polyphenols (TP) through wet-spinning technology. The PU-PAN mass ratio was optimized upon the mechanical property; TP was incorporated into the composite fiber with different contents. The obtained fibers were fully characterized in terms of mechanical, thermal, morphological properties as well as surface wettability. Additionally, in vitro TP release, antioxidant and antibacterial activity of such composite fibers before and after washing were under investigation systematically and orderly. The findings showed that TP-loaded composite fibers with an average diameter around 120 μm performed a sustained TP release behavior and desirable cytocompatibility. According to the capacity on scavenging 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals, the observation of scavenging ratio reaching to 97 % proved the excellent antioxidant performance. Furthermore, the ideal antibacterial activity against Gram-negative E. coli and Gram-positive S. aureus was also demonstrated. Collectively, this study provides a facile strategy to design and prepare a novel type of composite fibers and fabrics, which may be put into application as wound dressing and tissue conduit.