ELECTROSPINNING OF ST. JOHN'S WORT OIL LOADED MICROCAPSULES BASED PVA NANOFIBERS

Abstract

In this study, it was achieved that the production of St. John's Wort oil loadad Eudragit RS 100/PVA microcapsules by emulsion/solvent evaporation method and the microcapsules were embedded in PVA nanofibers. Morphological analysis was carried out with SEM images of both microcapsules and nanofibers. The presence of St. John's Wort oil, PVA and Eudragit RS 100 polymers were confirmed in the chemical structure of microcapsules and nanofibers by FT-IR. According to experimental studies, microcapsules were produced to have a smooth surface, a spherical shape and a uniform particle size. The PVA concentration was kept constant at 10% wt and microcapsule concentrations were applied as 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 wt %. Then, polymer solution properties were measured, such as conductivity, viscosity, and surface tension. It was determined that viscosity and surface tension values increased with microcapsule concentration increase, while conductivity did not change significantly. Nanofiber production was realized via the electrospinning method under the optimum process parameters. According to the SEM images and histogram, nanowebs have a fine fiber diameter, smooth surface, high quality and no bead structure. In addition, the average microcapsule size is 30 μm, average fiber diameter is 430 nm and the fiber diameter uniformity coefficient is 1,014. It is thought that this nanofiber surface containing microcapsules embedded in St. John's Wort has the potential to be used as a wound dressing.