Alternating current electrospinning for preparation of fibrous drug delivery systems

Alternating current electrospinning (ACES) was compared to direct current electrospinning (DCES) for the preparation of drug-loaded nanofibrous mats. It is generally considered that DCES is the solely technique to produce nanofibers using the electrostatic force from polymer solutions, however, less studied and also capable ACES provides further advantages such as increased specific productivities. A poorly water-soluble drug (carvedilol) was incorporated into the fibers based on three different polymeric matrices (an acid-soluble terpolymer (Eudragit (R) E), a base-soluble copolymer (Eudragit (R) L 100-55) and a nonionic homopolymer (polyvinylpyrrolidone K90)) to improve the dissolution of the weak base drug under different pH conditions. Morphology and fiber diameter evaluation showed similar electrospun fibers regardless the type of the high voltage and the major differences in feeding rates. The amorphous ACES and DCES fibers provided fast and total drug dissolutions in all cases. The presented results show that ACES can be a more feasible novel alternative to formulate fibers for drug delivery purposes. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.