Preparation and Characterization of Electrospun Polyvinyl Alcohol-styrylpyridinium/β-cyclodextrin Composite Nanofibers: Release Behavior and Potential Use for Wound Dressing

Biocompatible polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-styrylpyridinium (SbQ)/beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) composite nanofibers were obtained by electrospinning in this study. PVA-SbQ was used as the foundation polymer as well as crosslinking agent, beta-CD was incorporated to achieve expected properties such as improved mechanical properties and thermal stability. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra confirmed the existence of beta-CD, and the morphologies and average fiber diameters of the electrospun composite nanofibers were also analyzed by SEM. X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) of PVA-SbQ/beta-CD composite nanofibers revealed that the inclusion of beta-CD in the nanofibers affected the ordered phase of PVA. Besides, the thermal analyses revealed the improvement in the thermal properties for PVA-SbQ/beta-CD composite nanofibers. It was found that the crosslinked composite nanofibers showed a clear higher tensile strength (TS) as well as a greater elongation at break (EB). Eventually, antifungal drug griseofulvin (GSV) has been loaded into the composite nanofibers by formation of its inclusion complex with beta-CD in aqueous solution, ultraviolet light (UV-Vis) spectral analysis showed that the drug-loading nanofibers had certain sustained release effect.