Development and characterization of polylactic acid/lavender essential oil based bioactive nanofibers for wound dressing applications

In recent years, studies on the development of innovative bioactive wound dressings have gained momentum. Among the developed materials, nanofibers provide a suitable environment for wound healing by closely mimicing the structure of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Therefore, they are considered as promising candidates for nanofiber-based wound dressing materials. Both natural and synthetic polymers are used to prepare nanofiber-based wound dressings using electrospinning method. Among these different polymers, poly(lactic acid) (PLA), a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer with good mechanical properties which is obtained from renewable resources, is of particular interest. Among natural compounds, essential oils are preferred in biomedical applications due to their different bioactive properties. However, their high volatility and hydrophobicity limits their applications. It is possible to develop innovative biomaterials by incorporating essential oils into polymer matrices by electrospinning method. In this thesis, it was aimed to prepare lavender essential oil incorporated PLA-based electrospun nanofibers for potential wound dressing applications. The effects of different essential oil concentrations (2.5-12.5% v/v polymer solution) on the wettability, morphological, thermal and structural properties of PLA-based nanofibers were investigated. The antioxidant activities of the obtained nanofibers were investigated using three different methods as DPPH•, ABTS+•, CUPRAC assays. Antibacterial activities were investigated according to disc diffusion and broth microdilution method. FT-IR analysis showed the interaction between essential oil and PLA. The scanning electron microscopy images showed that the addition of colliphor and essential oil caused a change in the diameter of the fibers. The mean diameter of the pure PLA-based fiber decreased with the addition of lavander essential oil. It was determined that the surfaces of the essential oil incorporated nanofibers (except 2.5%) were hydrophobic with satisfactory thermal stability. It was determined that nanofibers showed increased antioxidant activity with increasing essential oil content. However, nanofiber-based materials did not exhibit antibacterial activity. In line with all these results, it can be suggested that PLA-based nanofibers containing lavender essential oil are potential candidates for biomedical applications.