The Effects of Extreme Electrospinning and Environmental Parameters on the Resulted Zein Nanofibers Formulated by the Electrospinning Technique

Abstract

Objective: The study declares and shows the effect of electrospinning parameters, including the temperature, humidity, applied voltage, syringe gage, the distance between the needle tip and collector, and flow rate on the morphology of the resulted nanofiber using the electrospinning technique in the preparation of Zein polymer nanofibers.

Methods: The Zein nanofiber was formulated as nanofibers using an electrospinning apparatus. The nanofibers were prepared in different conditions, adjusting the parameters in each single run-in various temperatures and humidity. At the same time, the concentration of the zein polymer remained constant in all of the runs. Then, the nanofibers obtained after drying and collecting them from the aluminum foil were transferred to a tightly sealed container. The nanofiber was characterized using Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to detect the presence of Zein polymer in the matrix. Then, the surface morphology of nanofibers was analyzed using the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique. To declare the morphologic changes in the resulting nanofibers.

Results: The results indicate that some specific parameters and conditions can lead to perfectly shaped nanofibers, and applying different conditions and parameters can lead to abnormal morphological topography and electro-spraying instead of electrospun nanofibers.

Conclusions: The SEM images provided visual evidence of the change in morphology that resulted in each different run-in with different conditions and parameters.

Aim of the Study: This study aimed to identify the effect of different electrospinning and environmental parameters on the resulting zein polymer nanofibers.