Interface modified polylactic acid/starch/poly ε-caprolactone antibacterial nanocomposite blends for medical applications

[Display omitted] ⿢Antibacterial nanocomposite blends with encapsulated drug prepared via melt blending.⿢Increase of nHA enhances hydrophilicity, antibacterial activity and drug release.⿢Adverse effect of antibacterial drug, was eliminated due to the presence of nHA.⿢3% nHA showed good adjustment between hydrolytic degradation and release profile.⿢Electrospun microfibers of optimum blend demonstrated an improved cell attachment. In this study, an optimized interface-modified ternary blend with antibacterial activity based on polylactic acid/starch/poly ε-caprolactone (PLASCL20), mixed with nano hydroxyapatite (nHA) via melt blending. This method results in a homogeneous nanocomposite blend in which the addition of 3% nHA improves the overall properties such as hydrolytic degradation, hydrophilicity, antibacterial activity and the drug release comparing to PLASCL20. Moreover, the simultaneous use of nHA and encapsulated triclosan (LATC30) compensated the negative effect of triclosan through increasing the possible cell attachment. According to the contact angle results, nHA was thermodynamically driven into the interface of PLA and PCL/Starch phases. The addition of 3% nHA showed a good adjustment between the hydrolytic degradation and the release profile, therefore, their electrospun microfibers demonstrated an improved fibroblast (L929) cell attachment. The aforementioned nanocomposite blend is a suitable antibacterial candidate for many medical applications with minimum side effects due to the controlled release of triclosan.