FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ELECTROSPUN ANTHOCYANIN-LOADED POLYLACTIDE NANOFIBERS

In this study, morphological, chemical and thermal characteristics of biobased and biodegradable anthocyanin-loaded polylactide (PLA) nanofibrous membranes were investigated. To prepare electrospinning solutions, PLA was dissolved at a concentration of 10% (wv^-1) in a solvent system of chloroform/dimethylformamide (75/25% vv^-1), and anthocyanin at different concentrations (1, 2, and 3% wv⁻¹) was added into the polymer solutions. The prepared solutions were electrospun by using a single syringe electrospinning setup. The morphological, chemical and thermal structure of the neat and anthocyanin-loaded PLA nanofibrous membranes were characterized via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), respectively. The FT-IR spectra proved the incorporation of anthocyanin into nanofibrous membranes successfully. It was observed that when anthocyanin was added into the polymer solution; bead-free nanofibers were produced, and when the concentration of anthocyanin was increased, mean fiber diameter increased as well. In addition, anthocyanin loading did not affect the crystallization behavior of PLA; however, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the nanofibrous membranes including no anthocyanin in the structure was higher than those of the other membranes including anthocyanin.