Titanium Dioxide Embedded Polyvinyl Alcohol/Polyethylene Oxide Nanofibers: A Nanostructured Platform for Antibacterial and Anticancer Therapy

In this study, hybrid nanofiber scaffolds composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyethylene oxide (PEO), and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were fabricated via electrospinning and evaluated for their physicochemical, antibacterial, and anticancer properties. The incorporation of TiO2 into the PVA/PEO matrix aimed to enhance the functional bioactivity of the scaffold for potential biomedical applications. Morphological analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the formation of uniform, bead-free nanofibers with TiO2 uniformly distributed within the fiber matrix. Structural and thermal characteristics were assessed through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and (TGA), respectively. The antibacterial efficacy was tested against both Gram-positive (S. aureus), and Gram-negative (E. coli MDR, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae) bacteria besides the fungi Candida tropicalis, demonstrating significant inhibition zones and microbial reduction with increasing TiO2 content. Additionally, in vitro cytotoxicity assay against human cancer cell lines (HepG2, Liver cancer cells) revealed notable anticancer activity, attributed to the photocatalytic and oxidative stress-inducing effects of TiO2 nanoparticles. These findings suggest that the developed PVA/PEO/TiO2 nanofiber scaffolds possess promising dual functionality as both antibacterial and anticancer agents, supporting their potential application in wound healing, cancer therapy, and tissue engineering.