Electrospun core-shell nanofibers for drug encapsulation and sustained release

Abstract

Fabrication of core-shell nanofibers by coaxial electrospinning system suited for drug delivery applications was investigated based on tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) as the core and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) as the shell materials. Comparison of drug release from monolithic fibers (blend electrospinning) and core-shell structures was performed to evaluate the efficacy of the core-shell morphology. The nanofibrous webs are potentially interesting for wound healing purposes since they can be maintained for an adequate length of time to gradually disinfect a local area without the need of bandage renewal. Further, our studies showed the potential of core-shell nanostructures for sustained drug release, which also suppressed the burst release effect from 62 to 44% in the first 3 hours by adding only 1 wt% TCH to the polymeric shell. Copyright © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers.