Producing Polycaprolactone and Basil Seed Gum Nanofibers Using an Electrospinning Process

Background: Novel packaging materials often exhibit enhanced environmental sustainability, safety, and biodegradability compared to conventional plastics. This work aims to identify and improve key factors influencing the production of polycaprolactone (PLC)-Basil Seed Gum (BSG) nanofibers. Methods: The optimization of electrospun nanofibers containing PLC and BSG was done using a Box-Behnken design. Four parameters were selected as independent variables: BSG concentration percentage (A), percentage of acetone in PLC solution (B), voltage (C), and distance from nozzle to collector (D). Two responses, namely the Relative Standard Deviation of nanofiber Diameter (RSDD) and Tensile Strength (TS), were chosen as dependent variables. Twenty-nine treatments were created using Design Expert software and Microsoft Excel (Design-Expert-Stat-Ease version 11 and Microsoft Excel 2012). Results: it was found that variables A and D have the greatest effect on diameter distribution, while variables A and B have the most significant effect on TS. At a voltage of 15 kV, RSDD decreased as variable A increased from 10 to 25%. Subsequently, this trend increased from 25 to 40%. Increasing variable A from 10 to 25% at each distance (D) resulted in a decrease in RSDD, followed by an increase from 25 to 40%. TS rose as variable A declined from 40 to 25%, after which a decline was observed. Conclusion: BSG both reduced the size and improved the texture of the nanofibers, as well as enhancing the performance of Oxygen Transmission Rate. Furthermore, BSG negatively affected the thermal stability of films in the Thermal Gravimetric Analysis-Differential Thermal Analysis. A detrimental impact on Water Vapor Permeability was observed when combining these two compounds. The mechanical qualities generally decreased with the addition of BSG.