Sequential electrospinning of multilayer ethylcellulose/gelatin/ethylcellulose nanofibrous film for sustained release of curcumin.

In this work, sequential electrospinning was utilized to fabricate a multilayer film with ethylcellulose nanofibers as the outer layer and curcumin-loaded gelatin nanofibers as the inner layer. Field-emission scanning electronic microscopy observations showed that the outer and inner layers had a smooth surface and clear boundary. The hydrophobic outer layers decreased the water vapor permeability and improved the water contact resistance of the hydrophilic inner layer, and the intimate interactions of hydrogen bonds between two adjacent layers enhanced the thermal stability. The multilayer film exhibited a sustained release manner of the encapsulated curcumin for 96 h, compared to the burst release within 30 min from the gelatin film. In addition, the antioxidant activities of the released curcumin from the multilayer film were well retained within 96 h. These results suggested that the multilayer nanofibrous film fabricated by sequential electrospinning has potential applications in bioactive encapsulation and controlled release.

Hydrophobic Ethylcellulose/Gelatin Nanofibers Containing Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Antimicrobial Packaging.

The ethylcellulose/gelatin solutions containing various concentrations of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were electrospun, and the resultant nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, mechanical testing, water contact angle, and water stability. Results indicated that ZnO nanoparticles acting as fillers interacted with polymers, resulting in the enhanced surface hydrophobicity and water stability of nanofibers. The antibacterial assay showed a concentration-dependent effect of ZnO on the viabilities of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Notably, the antimicrobial efficiency of the 1.5 wt % ZnO-containing fibers against Staphylococcus aureus was 43.7% but increased to 62.5% after UV irradiation at 364 nm, possibly due to the significantly increased amounts of intracellular reactive oxygen species. These results suggested that the ZnO-containing nanofibers with excellent surface hydrophobicity, water stability, and antimicrobial activity exhibited potential uses in food packaging.

Tunable Physical Properties of Ethylcellulose/Gelatin Composite Nanofibers by Electrospinning.

In this work, the ethylcellulose/gelatin blends at various weight ratios in water/ethanol/acetic acid solution were electrospun to fabricate nanofibers with tunable physical properties. The solution compatibility was predicted based on Hansen solubility parameters and evaluated by rheological measurements. The physical properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, porosity, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and water contact angle. Results showed that the entangled structures among ethylcellulose and gelatin chains through hydrogen bonds gave rise to a fine morphology of the composite fibers with improved thermal stability. The fibers with higher gelatin ratio (75%), possessed hydrophilic surface (water contact angle of 53.5°), and adequate water uptake ability (1234.14%), while the fibers with higher ethylcellulose proportion (75%) tended to be highly water stable with a hydrophobic surface (water contact angle of 129.7°). This work suggested that the composite ethylcellulose/gelatin nanofibers with tunable physical properties have potentials as materials for bioactive encapsulation, food packaging, and filtration applications.

Electrospun Chitosan/Poly(ethylene oxide)/Lauric Arginate Nanofibrous Film with Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity.

In this study, chitosan/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/lauric arginate (LAE) composite nanofibrous films were fabricated via electrospinning. The addition of LAE did not change the physical properties of chitosan/PEO in acetic aqueous solutions, but increased the fluorescent intensity of chitosan by electrostatic interactions, resulting in uniform and bead-free nanofibers with an average diameter of 150 nm. The Fourier transform infrared spectra and thermal analysis indicated that the LAE molecules were homogeneously dispersed within the chitosan/PEO nanofibers. The formation of electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions induced by the LAE addition changed the inter- and intramolecular interactions between PEO and chitosan and further affected the mobility of the polymer molecules, leading to the increased crystallinity and decreased melting point. The hydrophilicity of the nanofibrous films was significantly increased by the incorporation of LAE, as indicated by the decreasing water contact angle from 39° to 10°. Meanwhile, the chitosan/PEO/LAE nanofibrous films showed LAE concentration dependent antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, suggesting enhanced antimicrobial activity. The fluorescent staining experiments demonstrated that the antimicrobial mechanism of the nanofibrous films was cell membrane damage.

Solubilization of octane in electrostatically-formed surfactant-polymer complexes.

Polymers can be used to modulate the stability and functionality of surfactant micelles. The purpose of this study was to investigate the solubilization of an octane oil-in-water emulsion in mixtures of an anionic polymer (carboxymethyl cellulose) and anionic sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS), nonionic polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (Tween 80) and cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant micelles using dynamic light scattering, microelectrophoresis and turbidity measurements. The results showed that the addition of anionic carboxymethyl cellulose accelerated octane solubilization in cationic CTAB and CTAB-Tween 80 micelles, but did not affect the solubilization behaviors of micelles that were nonionic and anionic. The surfactant-polymer interactions were also studied using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to characterize different physiochemical interaction regions depending on surfactant concentration in surfactant-polymer systems. Upon octane solubilization in CTAB-carboxymethyl cellulose mixtures, shape transitions of polymer-micelle complexes may have taken place that altered light scattering behavior. Based on these results, we suggest a mechanism for oil solubilization in electrostatically-formed surfactant-polymer complexes.

Microstructure characterization of a food-grade U-type microemulsion system by differential scanning calorimetry and electrical conductivity techniques.

The microstructure transitions of a food-grade U-type microemulsion system containing glycerol monolaurate and propionic acid at a 1:1 mass ratio as oil phase and Tween 80 as surfactant were investigated along a water dilution line at a ratio of 80:20 mass% surfactant/oil phase, based on a previously studied phase diagram. From the water thermal behaviours detected by differential scanning calorimetry, three structural regions are identified along the dilution line. In the first region, all water molecules are confined to the water core of the reverse micelles, leading to the formation of w/o microemulsion. As the water content increases, the water gains mobility, transforms into bicontinuous in the second region, and finally the microemulsion become o/w in the third region. The thermal transition points coincide with the structural phase transitions by electrical conductivity measurements, indicating that the structural transitions occur at 35 and 65 mass% of water along the dilution line.

Structure-activity relationship of a u-type antimicrobial microemulsion system.

The structure-activity relationship of a U-type antimicrobial microemulsion system containing glycerol monolaurate and ethanol at a 1∶1 mass ratio as oil phase and Tween 20 as surfactant were investigated along a water dilution line at a ratio of 80∶20 mass% surfactant/oil phase, based on a pseudo-ternary phase diagram. The differential scanning calorimetry results showed that in the region of up to 33% water, all water molecules are confined to the hydrophilic core of the reverse micelles, leading to the formation of w/o microemulsion. As the water content increases, the water gains mobility, and transforms into bicontinuous in the region of 33-39% water, and finally the microemulsion become o/w in the region of above 39% water. The microstructure characterization was confirmed by the dynamic light scattering measurements and freeze-fracture transmission electron microscope observation. The antimicrobial activity assay using kinetics of killing analysis demonstrated that the microemulsions in w/o regions exhibited relatively high antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus due to the antimicrobial oil phase as the continuous phase, while the antimicrobial activity started to decrease when the microemulsions entered the bicontinuous region, and decreased rapidly as the water content increased in the o/w region, as a result of the dilution of antimicrobial oil droplets in the aqueous continuous phase.

Characterization and antimicrobial activity of a pharmaceutical microemulsion.

The characterization of a pharmaceutical microemulsion system with glycerol monolaurate as oil, ethanol as cosurfactant, Tween 40 as surfactant, sodium diacetate and water, and the antimicrobial activities against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium expansum have been studied. The influence of ethanol and sodium diacetate on oil solubilization capability was clearly reflected in the phase behavior of these systems. One microemulsion formulation was obtained and remained stable by physical stability studies. The antimicrobial assay using solid medium diffusion method showed that the prepared microemulsion was comparable to the commonly used antimicrobials as positive controls. The kinetics of killing experiments demonstrated that the microemulsion caused a complete loss of viability of bacterial cells (E. coli, S. aureus and B. subtilis) in 1 min, killed over 99% A. niger and P. expansum spores and 99.9% C. albicans cells rapidly within 2 min and resulted in a complete loss of fungal viability in 5 min. The fast killing kinetics of the microemulsion was in good agreement with the transmission electron microscopy observations, indicating the antimembrane activity of the microemulsion on bacterial and fungal cells due to the disruption and dysfunction of biological membranes and cell walls.

Antimicrobial activity of a food-grade fully dilutable microemulsion against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

Microemulsions are colloidal nanodispersions of oil and water stabilized by an interfacial film of surfactant molecules, typically in conjunction with a cosurfactant. There is a limited number of reports in the literature on microemulsion use for antimicrobial purposes. The physicochemical characterization of a food-grade fully dilutable microemulsion system with glycerol monolaurate (GML) as oil, organic acids as cosurfactant, Tween 80 as surfactant, and the antimicrobial activities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus have been studied in this paper. The influence of organic acids on oil solubilization was clearly reflected in the phase behavior of these systems. Propionic acid demonstrated the greatest capability to improve the oil solubilization among the tested linear and nonlinear chain organic acids and contributed to the formation of U-type microemulsion systems. One microemulsion formulation with an average particle size of 8nm was selected, the composition is GML/propionic acid/Tween 80/water=3:9:8:12. The kinetics of killing experiments demonstrated that the undiluted microemulsion caused a complete loss of viability of E. coli or S. aureus cells in 1min and still had effective bactericidal effects even when diluted, more than 99% viable E. coli cells were killed within 15min and a complete loss of viability was achieved at 45min while more than 99% viable S. aureus cells were killed within 30min and a complete loss of viability was achieved at 60min in the presence of the 10-fold diluted microemulsion. The fast killing kinetics of the ten-fold serial dilutions of microemulsions were in good agreement with the mode of action studies, indicating that the interaction between the antimicrobial microemulsions and bacterial membranes significantly decreased the bacterial cell surface hydrophobicity and induced the quick release of 260nm absorbing materials. This work suggests the potential use of food-grade fully dilutable microemulsions for antimicrobial purposes in beverages or seafood products.