Investigating the potential of chitosan, polyvinyl alcohol and activated carbon combinations for antibacterial electrospun fibers

\nElectrospun fibers have attracted a lot of attention in industries due to their exceptional properties and diverse applications. Chitosan (CS) is a promising polymer for electrospun fibers because it is a natural polymer that can easily biodegraded and has antibacterial compound. Whereas, activated carbon (AC) has been demonstrated as a powerful adsorbent. Thus, this study investigated the optimal concentration of polymer solutions made from combination of CS, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and AC for antibacterial elctrospun fibers. The results show that all polymer solutions with CS and PVA combination have antibacterial properties for E. coli and S. aureus bacteria but showed stronger bactericidal effects with E. coli. Results also revealed that polymer solution with AC have higher inhibition zone compared to polymer solution without AC for both bacteria strains. It can be concluded that the additional of AC into the polymer solution has improved the antibacterial efficiency of CS-PVA solution.\n