Although silver ions are widely used in antibacterial agents for therapeutic purposes, their application is associated with considerable environmental impact and, in some cases, adverse immune responses. Their use in medicine is gradually declining, with other antibacterial ions emerging as promising alternatives. Our research aims to create a bicomponent polymer scaffold by electrospinning, which contains zinc and strontium salts in addition to the polymer, which, according to the literature, has antibacterial properties. If such a new type of biocompatible wound dressing could be created, it would be a biocompatible mechanical barrier and have antibacterial activity against microorganisms. Several experiments have been conducted to optimize the physicochemical, mechanical, and biological properties of the scaffolds developed for application as wound dressings. The first step was synthesizing the polysuccinimide (PSI) polymer, mixing it with the selected salts in dimethylformamide, and optimizing the electrostatic fiber formation parameters, both classical and coaxial. Coaxial fibers are nanofibers that have a core and a shell layer. The inorganic salts used in the experiments were zinc-acetate and strontium-nitrate. The chemical and mechanical properties of the polymer networks were investigated by FTIR spectroscopy, SEM-EDX measurements, and their mechanical behavior through specific load capacity, elongation at breakpoint, and Young’s modulus values. We also performed tests to examine whether the salts could be released from the scaffold and exert their antibacterial effect. Antibacterial activity tests were performed on four application-relevant bacterial species. We also did cytotoxicity tests to investigate if the polymer scaffolds with the salts have a toxic effect on human tumor or fibroblast cells. Because these fibrous structures will be used as wound dressing, they must interact with the human cells.
Tóth-Pálos et al. (2026) studied this question.