Enhancing virus inhibition in track-etched membranes through surface modification with silver nanoparticles and curcumin

Abstract

The present work reports on the use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and curcumin immobilized on the surface of microfiltration track-etched membranes (mTMs) as antiviral filtration materials. AgNPs were synthesized through the direct reduction of silver nitrate by sodium borohydride in the presence of a stabilizing agent. The synthesized nanoparticles and curcumin were immobilized on polyethyleneimine (PEI)-modified mTMs through a static sorption process. TEM, SEM, UV–vis. spectroscopy and luminescence measurements revealed a uniform distribution of AgNPs and confirmed the presence of curcumin on the membrane surface. The resulting TM-PEI-AgNPs-PVP and TM-PEI-Curcumin hybrid membranes were employed for the filtration of HSV-1, VSV, IAV, and EMCV viruses. While both membrane types exhibited insignificant inhibition for the latter two, they achieved 95 and 99 % inhibition for HSV-1 and VSV, respectively. These findings suggest that hybrid membranes with immobilized AgNPs and curcumin can have potential as antiviral filtration materials.