Zein nanofibers via deep eutectic solvent electrospinning: tunable morphology with super hydrophilic properties.

ABSTRACT: The use of organic solvents for the preparation of nanofibers are challenged due to their volatile and hazardous behavior. Recently deep eutectic solvents (DES) are widely recognized as non-volatile and non-hazardous solvents which never been utilized directly for nanofabrication via electrospinning. Here, we present the preparation of Zein nanofibers using deep eutectic solvents (DES-Zein). The DES-Zein nanofibers were produced at an optimized polymer concentration of 45% (w/w) with pH 7.3 and electroconductivity 233 mS cm-1. DES-Zein nanofibers showed aligned to tweed like cedar leaf morphology tuned by varying the spreading angle from 0° to 90°. In contrast to hydrophobic conventional Zein nanofibers, DES-Zein nanofibers showed super hydrophilic character and about 200 nm finer average diameter. The proposed method of preparing Zein nanofibers using DES opens a new door to continuous electrospinning with tunable morphology, having potential to be used for environmental and biomedical applications.

SUBMITTER: Khatri M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7499184 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature