Evaluation of <scp><i>Moringa oleifera</i></scp> Incorporated With Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles/Poly(Vinyl) Alcohol Nanofibers as Antibacterial Material

ABSTRACT Antibacterial materials are increasingly significant, particularly for biomaterials and food packaging applications. Materials with good elasticity and antibacterial properties are crucial in this line of work. This study focused on the investigation of nanofiber properties in elasticity and antibacterial by combining Moringa oleifera (MO) zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofiber. The PVA/MO/ZnO nanofiber is fabricated using the electrospinning method. The morphology of PVA/MO/ZnO nanofiber shows smooth and uniform fibers with 292 nm in diameter size. The EDX mapping also demonstrates the successful loading of ZnO NPs into fibers, and the tensile test gives modulus Young as 290 MPa, which corresponds to good elasticity or flexibility for biomedical applications. The antibacterial activity of PVA/MO/ZnO nanofiber mats against gram‐positive and gram‐negative microbial species shows a good inhibition zone of 6.84 mm for Escherichia coli bacteria. The hydrophilicity of the nanofibers also supported this antibacterial activity. These results show that PVA/MO/ZnO nanofiber is certainly a potential material that has good elasticity and antibacterial properties, which may be useful in biomaterial applications, food packaging, and coating material. It also suggested the simple preparation of an antibacterial material with good elasticity.