Hyperbranched polymer functionalized antimicrobial fibrous membranes

Emergence of microbial, viral, and airborne pollutants is a global issue, especially in the current environment. Advanced hybrid multifunctional fibers, owing to their excellent sorption activity and nanostructure dependent properties, have proven to be more effective than existing microstructure filtration membranes. Here, multifunctional fibers are fabricated using a combination of fifth generation linear-dendritic HBPs (hyperbranched polymers) furnished with either cationic ammonium or anionic carboxyl groups within a biodegradable and biocompatible poly(L-lactide-co-caprolactone) (PLCL) polymer. Morphological and physicochemical analysis confirmed the generation of fiber via electrospinning. The average diameter of NH 3 + HBP functionalized PLCL was 0.65 ± 0.29 μm, and COOH HBP functionalized PLCL was 0.91 ± 0.46 μm. The antibacterial evaluation results against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) show an effectiveness exceeding 99.9 %. Electrospun fibers show a significant antiviral efficacy against Coronavirus (OC43), exceeding 97 %. However, the effectiveness against other types of viruses needs further study. Nevertheless, the scalability of the fabrication methodology and the antibacterial efficacy of these novel compositions have the potential to supplement the already existing filtration membranes and overcome the problem of pollutants in a closed environment.