Surfactant-free emulsion electrospinning of curcumin-loaded poly(ε-caprolactone)/bovine serum albumin composite fibers for biomedical applications

Abstract

A novel and eco-friendly ethyl acetate/water solvent system was employed to create stable water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions of curcumin (Cur)-loaded poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/bovine serum albumin (BSA) without the need for surfactants. The size of emulsion droplets decreased with the rise of the BSA concentration but increased with the drop of the oil-to-water (OTW) volume ratio. Upon electrospinning, the morphology of Cur-loaded PCL/BSA composites transformed from bead-like structures to uniform fibers as the BSA concentration rose from 0% (w/v) to 10% (w/v). With the enhancement of the OTW volume ratio, the composite fibers displayed an increased diameter and a consistently uniform morphology. The highest modulus of elasticity (0.198 MPa) and the largest elongation at break (199%) of fibers were achieved at the OTW volume ratio of 7:3, while the maximum tensile strength (3.83 MPa) was obtained at 8:2. Notably, the presence of BSA resulted in the superhydrophilicity of composite fibers. Moreover, all composite fibers exhibited sustained drug release behaviors, especially for those with the OTW volume ratio of 7:3, the release behavior of which was the best to match the first-order model. This study is expected to improve biofunctions of hydrophobic PCL and expand its applications in biomedical fields.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

emulsion electrospinning / surfactant-free emulsion / composite fiber / superhydrophilicity / drug release

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Declaration of competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Basic Research Project of Xuzhou Science and Technology Bureau (KC22004).

Online appendix

Electronic supplementary material (ESM) can be found in the online version at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-025-0717-0 and https://journal.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/10.1007/s11706-025-0717-0 that includes Figs. S1–S2.

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