Electrospun Hydrophobic Nanofiber Films from Biodegradable Zein and Curcumin with Improved Tensile Strength for Air Filtration

Abstract

Zein as a natural protein had been widely used in various elds due to its biodegradability and biocompatibility. However, its sensitivity to humidity and poor mechanical performance limited its application in practice. In this study, zein-based composite nano bers loaded with curcumin were prepared by electrospinning assisted with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The ltration e ciency of the modi ed nano bers to the particles with diameters larger than 0.5 µm was all above 98%. The loaded curcumin interacted with protein molecular chains to form a network structure within tightly connected nano bers, which exhibited excellent moisture resistance and good adhesion to cellulose paper towels used as air lter substrates. Meanwhile, its tensile strength had also been enhanced vastly to 0.72 MPa compared with the initial tensile strength of 0.21 MPa. This study provides a new electrospinning strategy for the preparation of zein-based composite nano bers that can be widely utilized in air ltration with high moisture resistance.

Biodegradable Electrospun Membranes for Sustainable Industrial Applications

“…Xie et al prepared zein-based composite nanofibers loaded with curcumin by electrospinning using a PVA polymer. 105 All of the modified nanofibers had filtering efficiencies of >98% when it came to particles bigger than 0.5 μm in diameter. The tightly packed nanofibers with the loaded curcumin displayed high adherence to cellulose paper towels used as air filter substrates and great moisture resistance due to their interaction with protein molecule chains to form a network structure.…”

“…High-performance protein nanofibers were wrapped around the two sides of the composite structure in the CT configuration, which was its intermediate configuration. Xie et al prepared zein-based composite nanofibers loaded with curcumin by electrospinning using a PVA polymer . All of the modified nanofibers had filtering efficiencies of >98% when it came to particles bigger than 0.5 μm in diameter.…”