The effect of rotational speed of rotary forcespinning to the morphology of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) fibers with garlic extract

Abstract

Abstract Garlic (Allium sativum L.) has many medical benefits since it possesses antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, and antitumor activity. In this research, garlic extract (GE) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were blended to produce composite fiber. PVP was used to protect the properties of garlic. One of the methods to produce composite fibers of PVP/GE is using rotary forcespinning. Rotary forcespinning has been proven to increase the production of polymeric nanofibers. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of varying the rotational speed of the rotary forcespinning to the morphology of PVP/GE fibers. The precursor solution was made by firstly dissolving PVP in distilled water at various concentrations. Then, the PVP solution was mixed with GE at a ratio of PVP: GE to be 10:5 (w/w) until it became perfectly homogenous. The precursor solution was subsequently inserted to the rotary forcespinning and was spun at various rotational speeds, which were 10,000, 11,000, 12,000, 13,000, 14,000, 15,000, and 16,000 rpm. The average diameter of PVP/GE fiber was examined with an optical microscope. The investigation showed that the average diameter of fibers decreased as the rotational speed increased. The fibers formed were fine and smooth, uniform, and beads-free. The existing functional groups in the composite fibers were then identified through Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis.