Abstract—Biopolymer nanofiber film is a form of transdermal drug delivery system, which was developed from gels or creams. Films, which are flexible, can be attached to the skin body and controlled for drug release application. The synthesis of biopolymer nanofiber as a matrix for drug control release of drug and herbal extracts has been extensively attracted from many researchers until present time. In this research, we focused on the nanofiber production from the biopolymers of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) blending systems containing chilli herbal extract or capsaicum extract. This study aims to figure out the suitable proportion of the mixture of biopolymer and capsaicin and to perform the characterization. The nanofiber forming was performed by melting PHA/PBAT and capsicum extracts in dichloromethane. The weight ratio of PHA:PBAT was fixed at 60:40 and the concentration of the PHA/PBAT solutions were 5, 7.5 and 10%, respectively. The suitable concentration condition of polymer solution was at 10%, then mixing with concentration of capsicum extracts at 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20% respectively. The solutions measured by viscometer machine confirmed that the viscosity of polymer solutions blended with capsaicin affects to the nanofiber synthesis by electrospinning technique. Then, the material properties of the nanofiber films were characterized by tensile tester. It was found that the stiffness and the elongation at break of the nanofiber films are in the acceptable range of the standard. The morphology and diameter of PHA/PBAT nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The amount of fiber ranges about 155-680 lines and the diameter was between 240-4,820nm, as most of the fibers fell in lower than 1 micrometer resulting in a confirm nano-scale fiber synthesis. With FTIR measurement, the nanofiber films containing capsicum extract in various numbers have a similar peak graph showing frequency ranging 1,340-1,020cm^-1. Therefore it can be concluded that fibers at the nanofiber and capsaicin substance molecules could be included in the nanofibers.

Index Terms—capsaicin, biopolymer, transdermal patch, electrospinning, nanofiber, chilli herbal extracts

Cite: Nuttapol Tanadchangsaeng, Darunee Khanpimai, Stayu Kitmongkonpaisan, Wimol Chobchuenchom, Thongchai Koobkokkruad, and Nuankanya Sathirapongsasuti, "Fabrication and Characterization of Electrospun Nanofiber Films of PHA/PBAT Biopolymer Blend Containing Chilli Herbal Extracts (Capsicum frutescens L.)," International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 61-65, June 2016. doi: 10.18178/ijfe.2.1.61-65