Polyurethane-silver fibers prepared by infiltration and reduction of silver nitrate

Silver-incorporating polyurethane fibers were prepared by infiltration of silver nitrate on electrospun polyurethane fibers and reduction with sodium borohydride. They were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray system. The Ag nanoparticles prepared by reduction of silver nitrate showed nano-sized crystals of 4-10 nm in diameter. However, larger aggregated Ag particles of 50-200 nm were also found to be dispersed in the polyurethane matrix when Ag particles were formed in electrospun fibers by the infiltration-reduction process of silver nitrate. As a result, infiltration method of silver nitrate into the electrospun fibers was significantly effective to produce silver-incorporating fibers due to a high specific surface area of fibers. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.