Revealing the Effects of Process Parameters on Structural, Thermal, Mechanical, Biodegradation, and Biocompatibility Properties on the Electrospinning of Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Microbial Inulin Nanofibers

Abstract

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Biopolymer based nanofibers are attractive scaffold materials for tissue engineering because their properties can be tuned through both processing and composition. In this study, microbial inulin produced by Salinivibrio costicola GM01 was incorporated into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to fabricate electrospun PVA-inulin (PI) nanofibers, and the effects of electrospinning parameters and inulin content on their morphology and scaffold related properties were systematically examined. The applied voltage (21–25 kV), solution flow rate (0.25–1.25 mL h –1 ), and needle to collector distance (14–18 cm) were optimized, and the most uniform bead-free fibers were obtained at 23 kV, 1.00 mL h –1, and 15 cm. Increasing inulin content (1–5 wt %) increased the average fiber diameter from 148.03 ± 29.12 to 374.94 ± 65.17 nm and reduced the crystallinity of the PVA matrix. Inulin incorporation also increased the swelling ratio from 987.42% to 1584.45% and accelerated matrix degradation under PBS and compost soil conditions. Among the tested formulations, PI1 showed the most balanced performance, with the highest tensile strength (6.01 ± 1.12 MPa). Preliminary MTT testing with HepG2 cells showed no evidence of cytotoxicity for any formulation, with PI1 exhibiting the highest mean cell viability after 48 h. Overall, microbial inulin serves as a sustainable additive for tuning the structure and functional response of PVA nanofibers, and the resulting materials represent a promising preliminary scaffold platform for hepatic cell culture and future soft tissue engineering studies.

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