Green Fabrication of Anticorrosive, Antibacterial, and SERS Active Nanohybrid Coatings by Dual-Spinneret Electrospinning

The development of sustainable and nontoxic corrosion coatings in abiotic and biotic environments has recently attracted significant attention. Herein, we developed nanohybrid coatings containing polysulfone (PSU), cyclodextrin (CD), zeolite (10 μm size), and biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs, 40 nm diameter) via direct one-step dual-spinneret electrospinning. In the fabricated nanohybrid coatings, zeolites were used as a nontoxic anticorrosive inhibitor, and biogenic AgNPs serve as antibacterial agents due to their environmentally friendly and low-cost characteristics. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses indicated that the zeolite and AgNP-embedded nanofibers have homogeneous and bead-free morphologies. Moreover, the elemental distribution mapping of the fabricated platforms demonstrated a well-distributed mixture of PSU/zeolite and CD/AgNPs in the nanofiber mats which were fabricated via such a dual-spinneret technique. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering activities of the fabricated nanofiber mats were also evaluated using methylene blue, rhodamine 6 G, crystal violet, and malachite green as probe molecules. Additionally, the antibacterial response of the fabricated nanohybrid coatings against four pathogenic bacteria ( Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 23213, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603) was investigated, which indicated the critical role of zeolite/AgNPs in suppressing the bacterial growth. Tafel measurements also showed that the PSU/zeolite/HPβCD/AgNPs hybrid coating reduced the corrosion current density of the Cu surface in the presence of P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853, which is a biofilm-producing bacteria, compared to the uncoated surface. The antimicrobial and corrosion inhibition ability of the fabricated nanohybrid coatings offers promising opportunities for the microbiologically influenced corrosion inhibition applications.