Engineering and evaluation of forcespun functionalized carbon nano-onions reinforced poly (ε-caprolactone) composite nanofibers for pH-responsive drug release

Nanofibers and smart polymers are potentially fascinating biomaterials for the sustained release of therapeutic agents and tissue engineering applications. The current study describes a new class of pH-controlled poly-caprolactone/mercaptophenyl methacrylate functionalized carbon nano-onions (PCL/f-CNOs) composite nanofibers by Forcespinning (R) (FS) with a sustained drug release profile. The morphology and structural characteristics of PCL/f-CNOs nanofibers were scrutinized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. The morphological results revealed that FS provided homogeneous and bead free nanofibers with average diameters from approximately 215 nm to 596 nm. PCL/f-CNOs composite fibers exhibited pH-responsive release of DOX over 15 days; pH 6.5 showed 87%, and pH 5.0 presented around 99% of DOX release. Drug release measurements showed that the pi-pi stacking interactions between DOX and f-CNOs have led to a controlled DOX release from forcespun PCL/f-CNOs fibers. Owing to the f-CNOs amalgamation, PCL/f-CNOs fibers unveiled enhanced tensile strength (3.16 MPa) as compared to pristine PCL fibers. It reveals the magnitude of colloidal stability and physisorption of f-CNOs within the PCL matrix. Besides, the in vitro cell viability was measured with human fibroblast cells, and good viability was observed. Nevertheless, DOX embedded pH-responsive PCL/f-CNOs composite nanofibers may show potential applications in the biomedical research area.