Fabrication and Characterization of Zein‐Based Nanofibrous Scaffolds by an Electrospinning Method

Abstract

Electrospun zein membranes were prepared using DMF as solvent. By changing the solution concentration, the electrospinning voltage and the distance between the spinneret and collector, nanofibrous meshes without bead defects could be obtained. In order to improve the mechanical strength of the hydrated zein meshes, core-shell-structured nanofibrous membranes with PCL as the core material and zein forming the shell were prepared by coaxial electrospinning. The core-shell structure of the composite fibers was confirmed by SEM characterization of the fibers, either extracted with chloroform to remove the inner PCL, or elongated to expose their cross-section. The composition and average diameter of the composite fibers could be modulated by the feed rate of the inner PCL solution. It was found that the core-shell fibrous membranes have similar wettability to the electrospun zein mesh. The presence of PCL in the fibers could significantly improve the mechanical properties of the zein membrane.

Electrospun zein nanofibers incorporating cyclodextrins

“…However, round-shaped zein nanofibers can be obtained by using solvent systems having high boiling points such as DMF (Jiang et al, 2007). In our study, the electrospinning of zein nanofibers was carried out by using DMF as a solvent system.…”

“…(Alkan et al, 2011;Parris, Cooke, & Hicks, 2005;Patel, Heussen, Hazekamp, Drost, & Velikov, 2012;Sanchez-Garcia, Hilliou, & Lagaron, 2010;Shi, Kokini, & Huang, 2009;Zhong, Jin, Davidson, & Zivanovic, 2009). In the recent years, electrospinning of zein nanofibers have received much attention as well (Jiang, Reddy, & Yang, 2010;Jiang & Yang, 2011;Jiang, Zhao, & Zhu, 2007;Miyoshi, Toyohara, & Minematsu, 2005;Selling et al, 2007Torres-Giner, Gimenez, & Lagaron, 2008;). These studies are mostly related to the optimization of the electrospinning parameters of zein nanofibers (Miyoshi et al, 2005;Selling et al, 2007;Torres-Giner et al, 2008), crosslinking of zein nanofibers (Jiang et al, 2010;Jiang & Yang, 2011; and blending of zein with some other type of biopolymers (Jiang et al, 2007;Yao et al, 2009a;Yao, Li, Song, Li, & Pu, 2007).…”

“…In the recent years, electrospinning of zein nanofibers have received much attention as well (Jiang, Reddy, & Yang, 2010;Jiang & Yang, 2011;Jiang, Zhao, & Zhu, 2007;Miyoshi, Toyohara, & Minematsu, 2005;Selling et al, 2007Torres-Giner, Gimenez, & Lagaron, 2008;). These studies are mostly related to the optimization of the electrospinning parameters of zein nanofibers (Miyoshi et al, 2005;Selling et al, 2007;Torres-Giner et al, 2008), crosslinking of zein nanofibers (Jiang et al, 2010;Jiang & Yang, 2011; and blending of zein with some other type of biopolymers (Jiang et al, 2007;Yao et al, 2009a;Yao, Li, Song, Li, & Pu, 2007). In addition, ␤-carotene which is a bioactive antioxidant (Li, Lim, & Kakuda, 2009) and (−)-epigallocatechin gallete that is a plant polyphenol (Fernandez, Torres-Giner, & Lagaron, 2009) were incorporated into electrospun zein nanofiber matrix for the stabilization of these active additives.…”

Drug-Loaded Zein Nanofibers Prepared Using a Modified Coaxial Electrospinning Process

“…Zein is used to manufacture a wide variety of commercial products, including coatings for food, excipients in pharmaceutics, and clothing. Recently, the electrospinning of zein into nanofiber mats for various applications, particularly in the biomedical field such as being a scaffold and matrix of novel drug delivery systems, has drawn increased attention (29)(30)(31)(32). However, the electrospinning of zein is easily hindered by spinneret clogging.…”

Sub-micron sized saccharide fibres via electrospinning

“…The electrospinning of biopolymers such as chitosan polysaccharides [5][6][7][8][9][10], cellulose compounds [11][12][13][14], and proteins like collagen [15][16][17][18], zein [19][20][21][22][23][24], bovine serum albumin [25] and others [25][26][27][28][29][30] is well described in the literature. Electrospun polysaccharides [31,32] and other bio-polymer based nanofibres show significant potential for a variety of biomedical applications [33][34][35] such as tissue engineering, wound dressing and cosmetics [15,34,36,37].…”