Fabrication of Antimicrobial Nickel-Based Polymerized Cellulose Nanofibers: A Highly Flexible, Conductive, and Biocompatible Membrane for Potential Application in Wearable Devices

Recently, nanotechnology contributes in advancement of membrane technology for daily life to prepare different polymerized nanofibers (PNFs) membrane. One of the contribution of these membranes is to prepare highly stable, flexible, conductive, and futuristic biocompatible membranes for wearable devices. For this concern, we reported first time fabricated robust and highly conductive nickel-based polymerized cellulose nanofibers for innovative application in wearable devices. The cellulose-based nanofibers (CNFs) membrane was prepared through electrospinning technique. The surface of CNFs membrane was modified by various steps, that is, deacylation, salinization, polymerization, and ionization to prepare a polymerized cellulose nanofibers (PSCNFs) membrane. For achieving highly conductive Ni-coated polymerized cellulose nanofibers (Ni-PSCNFs) membrane, several parameters, including volume (50 mL), time (30 min), temperature (60°C), and pH (8), were optimized. The high conductivity of Ni-PSCNFs membrane was calculated as 111 S/cm by using a multimeter device. The novel electroless deposition (ELD) method was applied for Ni deposition on the surface prepared PSCNFs membrane. Ni-PSCNFs membranes were characterized by SEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR, WCA, and electrical conductivity. The fabricated Ni-PSCNFs membrane was used for antibacterial activity against two selected bacteria, Bacillus subtilis (gram-positive) and Pseudomonas (gram-negative). The disc diffusion method was used to determine the maximum zone of inhibition against each bacterium, that is, 21 mm for Pseudomonas and 22 mm for B. subtilis. Moreover, Ni-PSCNFs membrane exhibit great performance as conductive layers with antibacterial activity and can be used as futuristic biocompatible membrane in wearable devices.