Nanofibers with inorganic nanoparticles are novel hybrid nanocomposites that have great potential in various areas.

Due to water‐repellency property and nanoparticle functionalization, nanofibers hold great potential of anti‐bacterial and anti‐corrosive properties. This study examines electrospinning technology to coatings polysulfone and embedded biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) polysulfone nanofibers (PSU−Nf) onto nickel for anti‐bacterial and anti‐corrosive protection. The anti‐corrosion performances of the hydrophobic nanofibers coated nickel surfaces were analyzed by weight loss, Tafel polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The antibacterial activity of nanofibers was analyzed using Pseudomonas aeruginosa which is a model biofilm bacterium. Results showed that the presence of AgNPs on the nanofibers reduces the cell counts. In addition, obtained electrochemical results confirmed the successful corrosion protection of PSU‐Nfs which corrosion current values of PSU−Nf coated Ni samples for 3 d is nearly 10 times smaller (12.1 μA cm−2) than that of bare Nickel (170 μA cm−2) samples. The EIS data agree with the polarization data that charge transfer resistance (Rct) showed a significant increase after Nf coatings. As a result, metal coated with PSU nanofibers and AgNPs embedded PSU‐Nfs has corrosion protection in both artificial seawater with and without biofilm bacteria. Further, due to environmentally friendly approach, electrospinning has the potential of using surface protection instead of toxic pretreatments and coatings.

The development of sustainable and nontoxic corrosion coatings in abiotic and biotic environments has recently attracted significant attention. Herein, we developed nanohybrid coatings containing polysulfone (PSU), cyclodextrin (CD), zeolite (10 μm size), and biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs, 40 nm diameter) via direct one-step dual-spinneret electrospinning. In the fabricated nanohybrid coatings, zeolites were used as a nontoxic anticorrosive inhibitor, and biogenic AgNPs serve as antibacterial agents due to their environmentally friendly and low-cost characteristics. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses indicated that the zeolite and AgNP-embedded nanofibers have homogeneous and bead-free morphologies. Moreover, the elemental distribution mapping of the fabricated platforms demonstrated a well-distributed mixture of PSU/zeolite and CD/ AgNPs in the nanofiber mats which were fabricated via such a dual-spinneret technique. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering activities of the fabricated nanofiber mats were also evaluated using methylene blue, rhodamine 6 G, crystal violet, and malachite green as probe molecules. Additionally, the antibacterial response of the fabricated nanohybrid coatings against four pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 23213, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603) was investigated, which indicated the critical role of zeolite/AgNPs in suppressing the bacterial growth. Tafel measurements also showed that the PSU/zeolite/HPβCD/AgNPs hybrid coating reduced the corrosion current density of the Cu surface in the presence of P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853, which is a biofilm-producing bacteria, compared to the uncoated surface. The antimicrobial and corrosion inhibition ability of the fabricated nanohybrid coatings offers promising opportunities for the microbiologically influenced corrosion inhibition applications.

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