Towards Greener Topical Healthcare Materials: PVA/CHCl:U/Tetracycline Nanofiber Drug Delivery Systems

Electrospun nanofibrous materials have attracted considerable interest in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications; however, their environmental performance is influenced by upstream material production, energy-intensive processing, solvent use, and packaging. In this study, a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted for a PVA/tetracycline (TTC)/deep eutectic solvent (DES) nanofiber patch intended for topical healthcare applications. The functional unit was one 5 × 5 cm patch containing approximately 500 mg of recovered dry nanofiber. The assessment included raw material production, PVA solution and ChCl:urea DES preparation, tetracycline incorporation, electrospinning, drying, and packaging. Thermal preparation of the PVA solution and DES accounted for approximately 84% of foreground electricity demand, whereas electrospinning represented approximately 15%. Electricity was a major contributor to PVA production impacts, while urea dominated most impact categories for DES production. In the modeled tetracycline production pathway, ethanol accounted for approximately 95–100% of Climate Change, Radiation, and Ecotoxicity contributions. Packaging, particularly aluminum production, also contributed substantially. These findings highlight opportunities to reduce thermal energy requirements, improve electricity sourcing, minimize upstream solvent use, optimize packaging, and integrate lower-energy fiber-forming technologies, renewable and waste-derived feedstocks, and circular processing strategies.