Polyaniline-coated Calotropis procera L. hollow tubular fibers with remarkable antibacterial activity
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Polyaniline‑coated Calotropis procera L. hollow tubular fibers with remarkable antibacterial activity Marcelo Reis dos Santos1 · Fernando Antonio Gomes da Silva Jr.1 · Poliana Pereira Ferrais1 · Ricardo Santana de Lima1 · Mateus Matiuzzi da Costa1 · Helinando Pequeno de Oliveira1 Received: 27 March 2020 / Accepted: 16 August 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract The development of environmentally friendly prototypes for use as antibacterial agents and as alternatives to antibiotics is a necessary step toward the control of infections. With this in mind, the production of hybrid composites based on natural and synthetic materials has been successfully explored. Herein, the chemical polymerization of polyaniline on natural fibers of Calotropis procera was used to explore the combined available surface area of fibers with the intrinsic properties of the conductive layer of PANI. What resulted was a coating of conducting polymer on natural fibers with strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The characteristic time for the complete elimination of colonies (kill time) observed in assays was in the region of 3–4 h of treatment, with an inhibition halo of 20 mm (against E. coli) and 24 mm (against S. aureus). In addition to the antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli, the modified fibers exhibited antibiofilm activity against S. aureus, which was evidenced in the reduction in the degree of bacterial adhesion to the surface applied in treatment (with a 39.96% biofilm inhibition). The proposed method represents a simple, low-cost, and one-step method for the modification of natural fibers with relevant applications in antibacterial agents. Keywords Hollow fibers · Calotropis procera · Polyaniline · Antibacterial
1 Introduction Resistance to antibiotics is one of the most serious healthcare problems, caused by the development of resistance mechanisms acquired by bacterial strains against several antibiotic classes [1]. These so-called superbugs have been critical not only in the hospital environment but also in the community. In addition, the scarcity of new effective antibiotics reinforces the need for strategies in the development of alternative antibacterial agents. In particular, the use of conducting polymers [2–4] as antibacterial agents has been considered a promising strategy. In general, the production of structures with large surface area and a well-defined morphology plays a critical role in the
performance of hierarchical devices. This has required strategies that involve expensive chemicals. As an alternative, the guided growth of a conducting polymer layer on the surface of natural microtubes can allow for the exploitation of the intrinsic advantages of these materials. Calotropis procera is a flowering plant that belongs to the family Asclepedaceae (genus Calotropis) [5–8], which originates from Africa, India, and Persia [9], and has adapted to tropical and subtropical lands with characteristic sandy soil and low rainfall. This plant is r
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