Polyvinylpyrrolidone/cellulose acetate nanofibers synthesized using electrospinning method and their characteristics

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is among the most extensively used polymer in electrospinning. It has excellent electrospinnabibilty, aqueous solubility, and biocompatibility. PVP has demonstrated potential application as drug delivery matrix and wound dressing material. However, PVP is easily degraded in the presence of moisture/water. Incorporation of cellulose acetate (CA) in PVP nanofiber is a promising way to increase of resistance to water. The objective of this study was to prepare to PVP/CA nanofiber by electrospinning method and to determine their characteristics. The SEM result shows that electrospinning of PVP/CA solution at 5% concentration (FC1) resulted in beaded fiber. At 10% (FC2) and 15% (FC3) concentration, the resulted PVP/CA fibers were bead-free. The average diameter of FC1-, FC2-, and FC3 were 258, 398, 534 nm, respectively. The FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of PVP and CA in FC1-, FC2- and FC3 nanofiber as indicated by characteristic peaks of hydroxyl groups and cyclic amides (PVP); and alkane and carboxyl groups (CA). The XRD study revealed amorphous state of PVP nanofiber and crystallinity state of CA nanofiber. The mechanical test showed that electrospun fiber with smaller diameter had greater tensile strength. The presence of CA increased the functional properties of PVP-based nanofiber.