Drug- Loaded Polyurethane/ Clay Nanocomposite Nanofibers for Topical Drug- Delivery Application

In this study, polyurethane/nanoclay nanocomposite nanofibrous webs were prepared by electrospinning. An antiseptic drug, chlorhexidine acetate (CA), was loaded onto montmorillonite clay and was then incorporated into polyurethane nanofibers. For comparison, the CA drug was loaded directly into the polyurethane solution dope used to electrospin the nanofibers. The emphasis was on investigating the effect of the drug loading into the nanoclay vis-a-vis direct drug loading on the drug-release behavior of nanofibrous webs. The nanofibrous webs were also evaluated for other properties, such as moisture vapor transmission, porosity determination, contact angle measurement, and antibacterial activity, which are important for topical drug-delivery application. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40230.