In the present condition of COVID-19, the demand for antimicrobial products such as face masks and surgical gowns has increased. Because of this increasing demand, there is a need to conduct a study on the development of antimicrobial material. Therefore, this study was conducted on the development of Aloe Vera and Polyvinyl Alcohol (AV/PVA) electrospun nanofibers. Four different fibers were developed by varying the concentrations of Aloe vera (0.5%, 1.5%, 2.5%, and 3%) while maintaining the concentration of PVA constant. The developed samples were subjected to different characterization techniques such as SEM, FTIR, XRD, TGA, and ICP studies. After that, the antimicrobial activity of the developed Aloe Vera/PVA electrospun nanofibers was checked against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. The developed nanofibers had high profile antibacterial activity against both bacteria, but showed excellent results against S. aureus bacteria as compared with E. coli. These nanofibers have potential applications in the development of surgical gowns, gloves, etc.

Designing novel antiviral personal protective equipment (PPE) is crucial for preventing viral infections such as COVID-19 in humans. Here, we fabricate an electrospun nanofiber-based Viroblock (VB)-loaded polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/zinc oxide (ZnO) hybrid nanocomposite for PPE applications. Five different concentrations of Viroblock (0.5%, 1.5%, 2.5%, 3.5%, and 5%) were added to PAN/ZnO solution and loaded for electrospinning. The developed samples reflected antibacterial activity of 92.59% and 88.64% against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, respectively, with 5% VB loading. Moreover, a significant reduction in virus titer (37%) was observed with the 5% VB/PAN/ZnO nanofiber sheet. Hence, VB-loaded PAN/ZnO nanofibers have great potential to kill enveloped viruses such as influenzas and coronaviruses and could be the ideal candidate for the development of nanofiber-based PPE, such as facemasks and surgical gowns, which can play a key role in the protection of frontline health workers and the general public in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bacterial cellulose is the three-dimensional network structure of nanofibers. The bacterial cellulose materials have outstanding characteristics of high surface area and high crystallinity (84%–89%). It has greater compatibility with the degree of polymerization and has excellent mechanical properties. The water-holding capacity of bacterial cellulose (over 100 ti) makes it stand out from other cellulose materials. This is because bacterial cellulose has high purity due to a lack of lignin and hemicellulose. Bacterial cellulose is considered as a non-cytotoxic, non-genotoxic, and highly biocompatible material, which has broad appeal in the medical field and has attracted widespread attention. The proposed review summarizes the microbial effects of enlisting bacterial strains with carbon sources, and culture media on bacterial cellulose production. In addition, it provides a variety of physical and chemical methods that can be used to modify bacterial cellulose with metal and metal oxide nanoparticles; like the common structure of zinc oxide/bacterial cellulose represent antibacterial characteristics against C.freundii, S.aureus, E.coli, and P.aeruginosa with 90.9%, 94.3%, 90.0%, and 87.4% strength respectively. The wound healing properties of such metallic oxide structure with bacterial cellulose presents the characteristics, which confirms its application in 66% of strength, especially for bionic designs for medical applications, including wound healing and artificial skin, vascular and neurosurgical covering materials, dural prosthesis, arterial stent coating, cartilage, bone repair grafts, and biomedicines. Because of the further exposure of value-added medical material application, our review ends with challenges and perspectives in the production of bacterial cellulose nanocomposite.

Textile-based Scaffolds preparation has the attractive features to fulfill the stated and implied needs of the consumer but there are still challenges of stability, elongation, appreciable bio-compatibility, and stated hydrophilic behavior. To overcome these challenges, the authors tried to fabricate a scaffold by blending of two highly biocompatible polymers; polyvinyl alcohol and poly(1,4 cyclohexane isosorbide terephthalate) through co-electrospinning. The resultant scaffold by the stated innovative approach evaluated from different characterizations such as dimensional stability/morphology was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, chemical interactions by that Fourier transmission infrared spectra, wetting behavior was analyzed by a static angle with a contact angle meter from drop method, elongation was examined by tensile strength tester and in-vitro assessment was done by MTT analysis. Based on verified results, it was concluded that PVA/PICT scaffold has a potential for dual nature of hydrophilicity & hydrophobicity and appreciable cell culture growth, stated dimensional stability and suitable elongation as per requirements of the nature of scaffold.