Design of amoxicillin imprinted polymeric nanoparticle-embedded nanofibrous mat and investigation of its drug release characteristics

In this study, amoxicillin (AMOX) imprinted poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate-N-methacryloyl-amido-L-glutamic acid methyl ester) (AMOX-MIP) nanoparticle embedded polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/sodium alginate (SAlg) nanofiber surface (PVA/SAlg/AMOX-MIP) was prepared via electrospinning method. Nanoparticles were synthesized by molecular imprinting method and they were characterized by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), conventional transmission electron microscopy (CTEM) and Zeta potential analysis. The molecular imprinting method was optimized by changing the ratios of the template molecule, the functional monomer and the crosslinker. The PVA/SAlg/AMOX-MIP nanofiber surface was prepared by adding 15% (w/v) AMOX-MIP nanoparticles to the PVA/SAlg electrospinning polymer solution. The nanofiber surface was crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) and characterized by FTIR, SEM, contact angle and thickness measurements, swelling and degradation tests. Drug release studies were performed for AMOX-MIP nanoparticles, non-imprinted (NIP) nanoparticles and PVA/SAlg/AMOX-MIP nanofiber surface. The drug-release kinetics were investigated using zero-order, first-order, Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas models. AMOX-MIP nanoparticles have a diameter of 50 nm and a Zeta potential of -36.4 mV. The average fiber diameter of the crosslinked PVA/SAlg/AMOX-MIP nanofibrous mat was 304.5±92.9 nm, the thickness was 0.658±0.01 mm, the swelling rate was 333%, and the contact angle was 52°±1.02. Degradation percent of the nanofiber was 7.8% after 20 days. In the first 30 minutes, the drug release from AMOX-MIP and NIP nanoparticles was 76.8% and 93.8%, respectively and after 4 hours, these values reached 85.7% and 97.6%. In the first 30 minutes, AMOX release from PVA/SAlg/AMOX-MIP nanofiber surface was 48%, 77.3% in 4 hours and 100% at the end of 4 days. The release data were fitted with Korsmeyer-Peppas model. According to these results, PVA/SAlg/AMOX-MIP nanofibers have a high application potential as an antibiotic releasing wound dressing.