Fabrication of Drug-Loaded Starch-based Nanofibers via Electrospinning Technique

This paper reported the fabrication of starch-based nanofibers derived from various weight ratios (w:w) of native sago starch (SS) and poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) (0:100, 1:100, 3:100, and 5:100) using the electrospinning technique. The effects of electrospinning operation parameters on the surface morphology of SS/PVA nanofibers were observed by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The smooth and bead-free SS/PVA nanofibers with fiber diameters within the range of 90 nm to 150 nm were produced under the optimized conditions. The paracetamol (PCM) was encapsulated into the SS/PVA nanofibers via the blending process. The SS/PVA nanofibers exhibited a maximum PCM loading capacity of 0.9573 mg.mg(-1), and PCM was observed to release out from SS/PVA nanofibers slowly and steadily for 72 hours.