Production of Essential Oil-Based Composite Nanofibers by Emulsion Electrospinning

Abstract

This study aimed to produce polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/gelatin (GEL)/lavender essential oil (LEO)-based nanofibers by means of oil-in-water emulsion electrospinning. Firstly, the polymer solution properties were measured, and then optimization of nanofiber production and characterization of the nanofibrous web were carried out. As gelatin was added to the PVP solution, viscosity was found to increase while surface tension and conductivity decreased. PVP/GEL (50/50) was determined to be the optimum sample in terms of nanoweb quality, fiber diameter, diameter uniformity, and gelatin content. Nanofiber production proceeded with PVP/GEL (50/50) and various concentrations of LEO. FT-IR results confirmed that LEO, PVP, and gelatin were incorporated in the chemical structure of the nanofibers. Generally, ultra-fine and uniform nanofibers were obtained, except when using pure PVP or PVP/GEL (50/50) including 8 wt % LEO. The finest fibers were obtained from PVP/GEL (100/0) (183 nm), and the most uniform fibers were obtained from PVP/GEL (50/50) (fiber diameter uniformity coefficient of 1.04). All nanofiber samples displayed unimodal distribution curves of histograms. While the addition of gelatin affected solution properties and average fiber diameter, the addition of LEO did not affect fiber properties.