Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers 68 (2016) 407–414 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jtice Turmeric/polyvinyl alcohol Th(IV) phosphate electrospun fibers: Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial studies Mohd Imran Ahamed a , Inamuddin b,∗ , Lutfullah a , Gaurav Sharma c , Anish Khan d,e , Abdullah M. Asiri d,e a Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, Uttar Pradesh, India b Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, Uttar Pradesh, India c School of Chemistry, Shoolini University, Solan 173212, Himachal Pradesh, India d Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80203, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia e Centre of Excellence for Advanced Materials Research (CEAMR), King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80203, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 3 June 2016 Revised 26 July 2016 Accepted 17 August 2016 Available online 15 September 2016 Keywords: Turmeric/PVA Th(IV) phosphate Electrospun fibers Antimicrobial application a b s t r a c t Turmeric/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) thorium(IV) phosphate hybrid cation exchange nanofibers were pre- pared for wastewater treatment along with antimicrobial activity. The physicochemical properties of elec- trospun fibers like thermal stability, surface morphology and composition were evaluated by using ther- mogravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis/differential thermogravimetry (TGA/DTA/DTG), scan- ning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infra red (FTIR), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) techniques. The ion exchange capacity determined by volumetric analysis was found to be 1.98 meq dry/g of ion exchanger. Antimicrobial properties of turmeric/PVA Th(IV) phosphate hybrid cation exchange electrospun fibers were validated by agar-well diffusion test (ADT) and microtitre plate assay (MPA) analyses. The presence of turmeric in polyvinyl alcohol Th(IV) phosphate hybrid cation exchange nanofibers is responsible for antimicrobial properties. The maximum zone of inhibition was found to be 22 mm for E. coli at 50 μg/ml and 21 mm for S. aureus at 100 μg/ml. © 2016 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction During last few decades, organic and inorganic ion exchange materials have been used for the treatment of wastewater. Inor- ganic ion exchange materials are well known for their good ion ex- change capacity, thermal stability and ease of synthesis, whereas, organic ion exchange materials are considered good due to their granulometric properties suitable for column operation. Inorganic as well as organic ion exchange materials have their own merits and demerits. For example, inorganic ion exchangers are less stable in high acidic and alkaline media while organic ones are less ther- mally stable. To overcome these obstacles, organic–inorganic hy- brid materials which possess the synergetic properties of both the materials have been developed. Organic–inorganic hybrid materi- als have established themselves as a distinct class of materials, as they are combining the properties of inorganic and organic parts [1,2]. Electrospining is one of the globally acknowledged modern, ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: inamuddin@rediffmail.com, inamuddin_amu@yahoo.com (Inamuddin). economical and versatile techniques to produce smooth fibers in nanometer range [3,4]. Electrospun fibers offer several outstand- ing properties such as large surface to volume ratio, excellent flex- ibility, small width and multi-scale porosity and hence are exten- sively utilized for fabrication of bioengineering materials [5,6] for various applications in the emerging areas of medical science like wound dressing, drug delivery, tissue engineering, bone regenera- tion etc., [7–11]. The name turmeric i.e. Curcuma longa, coined from the Arabic name ‘kurkum’ and has miscellaneous biological proper- ties like antimicrobial and antifungal properties due to the pres- ence of bioactive agents mainly “curcumin” [12]. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a polymer that is well known for its easy processability, smooth film forming capacity, high hydrophilicity, biocompatibility and chemical resistance properties [13]. PVA is water soluble and almost nontoxic polymer. Thus, it can be effectively utilize in med- ical fields. In this study, inorganic ion exchanger Th(IV) phosphate was used to prepare the hybrid material with PVA and turmeric in view of combining the favorable features of individual compo- nents, such as ion exchange properties of Th(IV) phosphate, antimi- crobial properties of turmeric and biocompatibility of PVA. These properties of hybrid ion exchange nanofibers make them suit- able for the treatment of wastewater along with the antimicrobial http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtice.2016.08.024 1876-1070/© 2016 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.