Fabrication And Characterization Of Drug-loaded Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) Composite Nanofibrous Membranes And Films

Electrospinning technique was used to fabricate poly (vinyl alcohol)/wheat gluten/zirconia (PVA/WG/ZrO2) nanofibers and Nisin loaded poly (vinyl alcohol)/wheat gluten/zirconia (Nisin-PVA/WG/ZrO2) nanofibers. In this paper, the structure and properties of nanofibers were characterized and tested. Owing to the excellent film-forming property and applications in the food active packaging of poly (vinyl alcohol) and wheat protein, the PVA/WG/ZrO2 films and Nisin-PVA/WG/ZrO2 films were prepared by coating method, and their properties were tested in the paper.PVA/WG/ZrO2 nanofibrous membranes were fabricated via electrospinning technique, and the best ratio of each component was found:mass ratio of PVA to WG was employed at 4:1 and ZrO2 content at 8 wt%. The average diameter of PVA/WG/ZrO2 nanofibers increased with the increase of ZrO2 content and the fibers tended to conglutinate when ZiO2 content reached 12 wt% and above. The hydrogen bonds and Zr-O-C bonds formed among PVA, WG and ZrO2 units improved the thermal stability of the polymeric matrix, while the addition of WG and ZrO2 caused a decrease in crystalline of fiber which promoted the degradation process of membranes.Nisin-PVA/WG/ZrO2 nanofibrous membranes were fabricated via electrospinning technique. The loading dosage of Nisin caused no significant changes in the size and morphology of nanofibers at Nisin content below 6 wt%. The antimicrobial activity and release experimental results showed that the Nisin-PVA/WG/ZrO2 nanofibrous membranes displayed well controlled release and better antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). These Nisin-PVA/WG/ZrO2 nanofibrous membranes may have potential as a new material in drug delivery and wound dressing.PVA/WG/ZrO2 films and Nisin-PVA/WG/ZrO2 films were successfully prepared by coating method. The experimental results showed that the addition of WG and ZrO2 had an influence on the properties of films, such as tensile properties, gas permeability and water vapor permeability. The Nisin-PVA/WG/ZrO2 films possessed well property of Nisin controlled release, the Nisin release from the films could be described by Fickian diffusion model and the diffusion coefficient increased with the increase of WG content In addition, Nisin-PVA/WG/ZrO2 films also had excellent antimicrobial activity against S. aureus.