Effect of polylactic acid coating on the tensile and wettability properties of the hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol electrospun films for wound dressing potential

Hydrophobic dressing application in wound dressing is an alternative approach that showed promising results, especially when dealing with colonization at the wound site. The wound dressing must possess a hydrophobic surface to eliminate the growth of hydrophobic microorganisms and at the same time be able to absorb massive fluid for better healing activities. This study is aimed to evaluate the effect of the hydrophobic coating on the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofiber electrospun in terms of mechanical and wettability properties. The PVA/PLA film was prepared by electrospinning process followed by polylactic acid (PLA) coating at a differentiation concentration of 1, 4 and 8 % for 15 minutes. The mechanical and water contact angle analysis suggested that PLA 4% concentration is the optimum value as the coating material. It has excellent Ultimate Tensile Strength (1022.5 ± 9.28 MPa) and Young Modulus (257.56±11.37 MPa) properties with the optimal hydrophobic condition for the wound dressing application. Swelling capacity studies indicated that the PVA/4PLA absorb simulated wound fluid up to 1780%, higher than neat PVA film, only 740%. This report suggests that PLA can be exploited for the synergistic combination with PVA nanofiber for better wound dressing materials.