Optimization of the process variables for electrospinning of poly(ethylene oxide)-loaded hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin nanofibres

Electrospinning is a versatile method for making nanofibres from polymer solution. Hydroxypropyl--cyclodextrin (HP--CD) is electrospun from aqueous solution by blending with non-toxic, biocompatible, synthetic polymer poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The aqueous solutions containing 70:30 HP--CD/PEO polymer blend with 8wt.% concentration were electrospun to study the effects of process parameters on fibre morphology. Electrospinning was carried out at variable feed rate, applied voltage and working distance to see the effects on process stability and fibre diameter. Scanning electron microscope images showed that increasing feed rate, applied voltage and working distance promote bead formation in the fibre. The average diameter of the nanofibres was measured using ImageJ software. It was observed that the fibre diameter increased with increasing the feed rate and applied voltage. In contrast, the diameter of the fibres decreased with increasing the working distance up to a certain level. Further increase of the working distance produced beaded fibres. The ultimate objective of this study was optimize the electrospinning parameters to obtain bead-free HP--CD/PEO nanofibres. The results revealed that a feed rate of 0.5-1.0ml/h, a working distance of 10-14cm and an applied voltage of 5-7kV have been found to produce smooth PEO loaded HP--CD nanofibres.