Silver Nanowires Embedded Chitosan/Poly‐Lactic Acid Electrospun Nanocomposite Web Based Nanofibrous Multifunctional Membrane for Safe Water Purification

Abstract This paper reports the development of a three‐layer antibacterial cartridge system for water filtration applications. Chitosan/poly(lactic acid) (CS/PLA) nanofibers with various blend ratios are produced through an electrospinning technique. Finer and more uniform nanofibers are obtained at a 70/30 CS/PLA blend ratio, which demonstrate average 86% and 84% antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, Gram positive) and Escherichia coli (E. coli, Gram negative) bacteria, respectively. In order to further enrich the antibacterial activity, silver nanowires (AgNWs) are synthesized by a Solvothermal method and loaded into 70/30 CS/PLA nanofibers, in varying concentrations, to fabricate a CS/PLA/AgNW composite nanofibrous membrane. The CS/PLA/AgNW nanofibrous membrane loaded with 3% AgNWs demonstrates 100% antibacterial activity against both types of bacteria. The developed novel materials also adsorb heavy metal ions. Moreover, the silver leach‐out tendency of this fibrous web is found to be just 0.003 ppm over a 36 h time frame, which is well within the acceptable limit prescribed by WHO (<0.1 ppm). This 3% CS/PLA/AgNW composite nanofibrous membrane is coated over polyester nonwoven and used as a middle‐layer in the development of a three‐layer antibacterial cartridge system, which effectively removes bacterial and heavy metal ion contaminants from pond water to an extent desired to deem it potable.