Fabrication, Characterization and Release Profile of Aloe Vera Extracts/PVA Composite Electrospun Nanofiber

Abstract

Aloe vera is a well-known remedy that carries many beneficial health effects such as painkiller, anti-inflammatory, promote skin growth and repair. The combination of bioactive natural product of aloe vera as a drug model and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the base material or carrier in the electrospinning process were studied. Smooth straight and continues electrospun fibers were collected with the Field Effect Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) images show no formation of bead (defect signed) in the electrospun membrane when the concentration was set at 10% w/w of PVA nanofibre. The morphological structure of the electrospun membranes shows a smooth and longitudinal fiber when aloe vera is mixed with the PVA polymer with percentage ratio of aloe vera over PVA is less than 25%. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) shows no reaction between PVA and aloe vera by not showing peaks other than the initial materials. The Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) proves the presence of aloin indicating the presence of aloe vera in nanofiber. The release profile of the electrospun aloe vera in PVA shows a higher initial burst release at the 50% and 70% concentration levels indicating very little control of the release or none at all. These results show the potential of aloe vera – PVA electrospun nanofibers membrane as a promising material for wound dressing and topical drug delivery.