Fabrication of natural tapioca starch fibers by a modified electrospinning technique

Abstract

We report the fabrication of high purity natural tapioca starch (NTS) fibers by using a modified electrospinning technique with a dehydration process using a -20°C ethanol collector bath to complement the conventional electrospinning technique. Electrospun fibers with diameters of 1.3-14.5 μm were generated from a simple solution of starch in deionized water with starting concentrations of 3.0 to 5.0 wt%. X-ray diffraction and FTIR analyses were employed to study the phase and functional groups occurring in the prepared NTS fibers. X-ray diffraction revealed an A crystalline type structure of the starting NTS and FTIR confirmed that the functional group of the NTS electrospun fibers remained unchanged, indicating unmodified NTS fiber products. The water swelling ratio was 148 % for the electrospun NTS at solution concentration of 4.5 wt% and 78% for 3 wt%. It has been found that using NTS fiber as a disintegrating excipient in tablet form for pharmaceutical applications was not comparable with a superdisintegrant. However, by using a combination of NTS powders and NTS fibers, in particular in lower percentages, there were good results, with a disintegrating time of about one and half minute. These fibers were found to enhance swelling which shows that this fiber is a promising candidate for drug release applications.