Preparation and characterization of captopril loaded polycaprolactone electrospun nanofibers

Electrospun nanofibrous mats of Polycaprolactone (PCL) and amino modified SBA-15 containing Captopril were prepared and release of drug from prepared nanofibers were investigated in this study.

Amino modified SBA-15 synthesized through grafting with aminopropyl triethoxy silane. Then, Captopril which is used as an Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitor was loaded as a model drug into the synthesized particles. Furthermore, silica particles containing different amounts of captopril (7.5, 10, 15 mg) were loaded into PCL nanofibers’ structure using electrospinning. Therefore, captopril’s release rate in phosphate buffer was analyzed. The analysis of captopril-loaded silica and captopril-loaded nanofibers (without silica) was done in vitro matrix. To identify the acquired nanofibers, FTIR, SEM, SEM mapping, EDX and average diameter calculation were performed. 

Comparison between the drug release rate of silica-containing nanofibers and bare silica particles indicated that silica particles positively affected the drug release rate. Moreover, kinetic studies have revealed that the drug release rate follows Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas model. Bare nanofibers’ average diameter was 209 nm while silica and captopril containing nanofibers were 286 nm in average diameter. 

Therefore, it was concluded that drug-loaded Polycaprolactone nanofibers are potential candidates for biomedical applications.