Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of mesoporous hydroxylapatite/zinc oxide nanofibers

Highlights: • Zn(OAc)₂ contents affected morphology and size of PVA/HA/Zn(OAc)₂ nanofibers. • meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers were fabricated from PVA/HA/Zn(OAc)₂ nanofibers. • Morphology and structure of meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers were investigated. • Antimicrobial activity of meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers depended on ZnO/HA ratio. • S. aureus was more sensitive to meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers than E. coli. - Abstract: The aim of this study is to develop antimicrobial mesoporous hydroxylapatite/zinc oxide (meso-HA/ZnO) nanofibers from polyvinyl alcohol/hydroxylapatite/zinc acetate (PVA/HA/Zn(OAc)₂) electrospun nanofibers by calcination process. The antibacterial activities of meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers towards Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, ATCC6538) and Escherichia coli (E. coli, 8099) were evaluated. The meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers were composed of hexagonal HA and wurtzite ZnO phases. The representative meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers with ZnO/HA ratio at 1:5 showed a wormhole-like shape, main pore diameter around 25 nm and specific surface area at 24.81 m²/g. The inhibition efficiency of meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers increased with the increase of ZnO/HA ratio, however, S. aureus was more sensitive to meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers than E. coli. The meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers with ZnO/HA ratio at 1:10 exhibited effective antibacterial activity towards S. aureus, whereas, the ZnO/HA ratio was raised up to 1:5 towards E. coli. The experimental results suggested that the meso-HA/ZnO nanofibers might have potential as an antimicrobial activity material in biomaterial applications.