Coaxial electrospun membranes of poly(ε-caprolactone)/poly(lactic acid) with reverse core-shell structures loaded with curcumin as tunable drug delivery systems

Abstract

Nano fibrous membranes core-shell of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), encapsulating 1 wt% of curcumin, are fabricated by coaxial electrospinning technique. Morphology and physical properties, as well as the release of curcumin, are studied and compared with neat PLA and PCL individually spinned. Morphological analysis shows for all the samples the obtainment of fiber oriented in random way, without defect and with a narrow distribution of the fiber dimensions (344 nm for PCL fibers and 450 nm for PLA fibers). Mechanical performances and barrier properties are evaluated on all membranes and found to be dependent on the fibers' composition and morphology. Water contact angle for all membranes is found higher than 90° (from 103° for PLA-Curc to 128° for PCL-Curc), expected since the hydrophobic behavior of the micro/nano electrospun morphology. The curcumin release from the coaxial fibers, modeled with a modified Weibull equation, shows the possibility of a fine tuning of drug release (up to 15 days) for the produced materials, depending on the required application.