Resumen
Carrageenan, CAR are the natural occurring polysaccharides and have desirable biocompatibility with biological systems especially in biomedical fields. But, efforts in developing the carrageenan based nanofibers remain unexplored due to its fabrication limitation especially in electrospinning technique. In this work, 3 methods of preparing the kappa type carrageenan solution were compared based on the viscosity (Electronic Rheometer), conductivity (Conductivity Meter) and FTIR peak (Fourier-Transform Infrared) analysis data. First method utilizes distilled water as solvent, then in second method, addition sonication step and finally in third method, NaCl solution used as solvent. Preliminary data analysis shows carrageenan solution prepared through Method 1 gives the optimum data for PVA cross-link before electrospinning. Two types of PVA polymers, Fully Hydrolyzed and Partially Hydrolyzed PVA types were used as co-polymer. The cross-link ratio of 70:30 (PVA: CAR) were used, then spinning solution prepared were analyzed in same manner as carrageenan solution previously. The nanofibers were successfully fabricated and the effect of different PVA types on the nanofibers characteristics were investigated through SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) and Contact Angle analysis. Nanofibers with PVA FH and CAR blend produced uniform and smooth nanofiber at 12 w/v % PVA FH concentration. In the contrary, nanofibers with PVA PH and CAR solution produced very poor nanofiber quality with obvious bead formation and non-smooth appearance due to its lower molecular weight that yield unsuitable viscosity properties for electrospinning. Meanwhile, both PVA type promotes the hydrophilicity of the nanofiber because all contact angle yield value lower than 65° and less than 20 seconds equilibrium time with slight better absorption rate for PVA PH nanofiber blends due to lower hydrolysis degree properties. The results obtained from this work improve the applications of carrageenan in advancing the biomedical application especially in drug and nutrient delivery system.