SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF Ag-DOPED TIO2 NANOFIBERS VIA ELECTROSPINNING.

Pure TiO2 and Ag-doped TiO2 nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning of a sol–gel consisting of titanium isopropoxide, silver nitrate and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Calcination of the electrospun mats at 500 oC led to produce well morphology Ag-doped TiO2 nanofibers. The heat treated nanofibers are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDX), etc. XRD analysis of calcined nanofibers confirms the anatase phase formation of pure and doped TiO2 nanofibers. The antibacterial activity of TiO2 and Ag-doped TiO2 nanofibers was investigated against both gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli) bacteria. From the results, it was observed that TiO2 shows the bactericidal property against the S. aureus, E. coli, and P. Aeruginosa bacteria which is enhanced by the presence of silver.