Electrospinning and Characterization of Novel Opuntia ficus-indica Mucilage Biomembrane
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Electrospinning and Characterization of Novel Opuntia ficus-indica Mucilage Biomembrane Sylvia W. Thomas1*, Norma A. Alcantar2, and Yanay Pais1 1 University of South Florida, Department of Electrical Engineering 2 University of South Florida, Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering 4202 E. Fowler Ave., ENB118, Tampa, FL 33620, U.S.A. ABSTRACT Opuntia ficus-indica (Ofi) cactus non-gelling (NE) mucilage nanofibers were electrospun with acetic acid solution and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a polymer. The best fiber coverage was achieved with an aqueous 50% acetic acid solution and 9% low molecular weight PVA at a 70:30 PVA:Mucilage volume ratio. Other volume ratios (30:70 and 50:50) produced beads and other deformities. Fibers were formed with an average diameter of 180nm as measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Favorable electrospinning conditions were used to fabricate a 1 cm x 1 cm Ofi nanofiber biomembrane. Heat flow (W/g) versus temperature peaks ranged from 214 – 222°C, which is comparable to endothermic peak ranges observed for crystalline PVA. This could possibly further indicate some form of crystallinity within the Ofi nanofiber membrane. The electrospun process used precursors that were biodegradable, non-toxic, and sustainable to optimize the mucilage nanofiber formation, which will help enhance the potential performance of the Ofi nanofiber biomembrane in filtration and sensory systems. INTRODUCTION Electrospinning is a simple and inexpensive method of fabricating submicron fibers from synthetic or natural polymers. There have been many uses found for electrospun materials and research is ongoing to investigate the utilization of electrospun fibers in micro electrical devices as sensors and wiring [1-2], in biomedical applications for would healing, tissue engineering, dental and medical implants, [3-5] and in environmental systems as mesh or membrane filters and sensors [1, 6-8]. Electrospun fiberous membranes produced from non-toxic natural materials will provide the basis for the next generation of economically sustainable biological devices. The use of natural materials to produce eletrospun fiberous membranes is increasingly being studied, such as alginates [9-10], cellulose [11-12], dextran [13], and chitosan [14-17]. There has been reported difficulty in electrospinning fibers or nanofibers using natural materials with high molecular weight sugars (>106 g mol-1) due to the long polysaccharide chains. [18] The use of a high acetic acid concentrated solution was needed to electrospin chitosan (1.095 x 106 g mol-1), a high molecular weight sugar material.[17,19, 20] Acetic acid is used to break down some polysaccharide links [19]. This helps to decrease surface tension and increase charge density, which is necessary for electrospinning [17]. In an effort to electrospin cellulose, an abundant polysaccharide, researchers have used 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [12] and N-methylmorpholine N-oxide hydrate [11] to break down the links. In addition to
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