Comparative Study of Polycaprolactone Electrospun Fibers and Casting Films Enriched with Carbon and Nitrogen Sources and Their Potential Use in Water Bioremediation

Abstract

Augmenting bacterial growth is of great interest to the biotechnological industry. Hence, the effect of poly (caprolactone) fibrous scaffolds to promote the growth of different bacterial strains of biological and industrial interest was evaluated. Furthermore, different types of carbon (glucose, fructose, lactose and galactose) and nitrogen sources (yeast extract, glycine, peptone and urea) were added to the scaffold to determinate their influence in bacterial growth. Bacterial growth was observed by scanning electron microscopy; thermal characteristics were also evaluated; bacterial cell growth was measured by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry at 600-nm. Fibers produced have an average diameter between 313 to 766 nm, with 44% superficial porosity of the scaffolds, a glass transition around ~64 °C and a critical temperature of ~338 °C. The fibrous scaffold increased the cell growth of Escherichia coli by 23% at 72 h, while Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus increased by 36% and 95% respectively at 48 h, when compared to the normal growth of their respective bacterial cultures. However, no significant difference in bacterial growth between the scaffolds and the casted films could be observed. Cell growth depended on a combination of several factors: type of bacteria, carbon or nitrogen sources, casted films or 3D scaffolds. Microscopy showed traces of a biofilm formation around 3 h in culture of P. aeruginosa. Water bioremediation studies showed that P. aeruginosa on poly (caprolactone)/Glucose fibers was effective in removing 87% of chromium in 8 h.

Evaluation of strategies to incorporate silver nanoparticles into electrospun microfibers for the preparation of wound dressings and their antimicrobial activity

“…°C [8]. The thermogram of the PCL-PVP blend has been reported by some studies [15,33,35], in this pattern, a three-stage weight loss was observed, where the first stage agrees with the loss of moisture from PVP, while other losses in weight correspond to the thermal decomposition, of PCL and PVP.…”

“…Nanoparticles have diverse applications, from the biomedical aspects [7] to the remediation of the environment [8]. The development of micro and nanofibers provides a framework for developing nano-engineered surfaces to be used as membranes for different types of tissues [9].…”

Influence of Fiber Diameter of Polycaprolactone Nanofibrous Materials on Biofilm Formation and Retention of Bacterial Cells

“…Despite the lower biofilm formation rate on PCLs compared to PS, still, very dense biofilms consisting of 1.1 × 10 7 –3.9 × 10 8 CFU/cm 2 on average were assessed on PCLs. This ease with which bacterial biofilms were formed on PCLs predestinates their potential for microbial biomass production in biotechnological applications, 16 while also highlighting the importance of controlling the microbial quality of PCL materials applicable in medicine and the food industry. For all these practical implementations, knowledge of how PCL’s fiber diameter influences microbial cell adhesion and biofilm maturation is fundamental; this would allow us to control biofilm formation.…”

“…PCL is a synthetic biodegradable polymer, which is used as a biocompatible material for the development of scaffolds in tissue engineering, wound dressings, face masks, drug-delivery systems, and food packaging. 16 PCL and other nanofibrous materials can serve as a key element in the fight against microbial infections, and their use is becoming increasingly important in the development of antibacterial applications. The nano/microfibrous nature of these materials provides a structure very similar to tissue extracellular matrix (ECM), in particular a high surface area to volume ratio of the material, a high degree of porosity, and tunable pore size, which allows the materials to create an environment similar to native tissues, thereby promoting cell adhesion and proliferation, making the materials promising candidates for tissue engineering applications.…”

“…PCL was selected as an appropriate polymer for this work due to its properties and wide range of applications. PCL is a synthetic biodegradable polymer, which is used as a biocompatible material for the development of scaffolds in tissue engineering, wound dressings, face masks, drug-delivery systems, and food packaging . PCL and other nanofibrous materials can serve as a key element in the fight against microbial infections, and their use is becoming increasingly important in the development of antibacterial applications.…”