Electrospun emodin polyvinylpyrrolidone blended nanofibrous membrane: a novel medicated biomaterial for drug delivery and accelerated wound healing

In this work, blended nanofibrous membranes were prepared by an electrospinning technique with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) K90 as the filament-forming polymer, and emodin, an extract of polygonum cuspidate known as a medicinal plant, as the treatment drug. Detailed analysis of the blended nanofibrous membrane by scanning electron microscopy, Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction revealed that emodin was well distributed in the ultrafine fibers in the form of amorphous nanosolid dispersions. Results from attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectra suggested that the main interactions between PVP and emodin might be mediated through hydrogen bonding. In vitro dissolution tests proved that the blended nanofibrous membrane produced more desired release kinetics of the entrapped drug (emodin) as compared to the pure drug. Furthermore, wound healing test and histological evaluation revealed that the emodin loaded nanofibrous membrane to be more effective as a healing accelerator thereby proving potential strategies to develop composite drug delivery system as well as promising materials for future therapeutic biomedical applications.