Electrospinning of multicomponent ultrathin fibrous nonwovens for semi‐occlusive wound dressings

This work describes the design and assembly of multifunctional and cost‐efficient composite fiber nonwovens as semi‐occlusive wound dressings using a simple electrospinning process to incorporate a variety of functional components into an ultrathin fiber. These components include non‐hydrophilic poly( L ‐lactide) (PLLA) as fibrous backbone, hydrophilic poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)–iodine (PVP–I), TiO 2 nanoparticles, zinc chloride as antimicrobial, odor‐controlling, and antiphlogistic agents, respectively. The process of synthesis starts with a multicomponent solution of PLLA, PVP, TiO 2 nanoparticles plus zinc chloride, in which TiO 2 nanoparticles are synthesized by in situ hydrolysis of TiO 2 precursors in a PVP solution for the sake of obtaining the particle‐uniformly dispersive solution. Subsequent electrospinning generates the corresponding composite fibers. A further iodine vapor treatment to the composite fibers combines iodine with PVP to produce the PVP–I complexes. Experiments indicate that the assembled composite fibers (300–400 nm) possess the ointment‐releasing characteristic and the phase‐separate, core‐sheath structures in which PVP–I residing in fiber surface layer becomes the sheath, and PLLA distributing inside the fiber acts as the core. Based on this design, the structural advantages combining active components endow the assembled composite nonwovens with a variety of functions, especially, the existence of PVP–I, endows the nonwoven with water absorbability, antimicrobial activity, adhesive ability, and transformable characteristic from hydrophilicity to non‐hydrophilicity. The multifunctional, cost‐efficient, and ointment‐releasing characteristics make the multicomponent composite fibrous nonwovens potentially useful in applications such as initial stage of dressing of the cankerous or contaminated wounds. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2009