Evaluation of vapor permeability of wound dressings with nanofiber coating

The relevance of research on obtaining innovative wound dressings from bioinert polymers by electrospinning is associated with the features of their structure and properties, such as the ability to imitate the structure of the extracellular matrix, delivery of active components to the wound surface, increased sorption, hemostatic and healing properties. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of nanofibrous coatings of different composition and structure on the vapor permeability of wound dress sings. The article describes the production of samples of wound dressings with a transdermal drug delivery system – a material with nanofibers made of a bioinert polymer to maintain the material's shape, as well as a biocompatible polymer with an added active component. Polyamide-6 was chosen as a bioinert polymer for creating the inner layer due to its chemical stability, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and acceptable mechanical properties. The outer layer is made from a biocompatible water-soluble polymer polyvinyl alcohol with the addition of a functional medicinal component. Nanofibrous coatings were produced by electrospinning method using Fluidnatek LE-50. The structure of the samples was assessed using a LEO 1420 scanning electron microscope from Carl Zeiss. Vapor permeability was determined by comparative testing of material samples using a MAC-50 humidity analyzer from Radwag, according to the PN EN ISO 14268:2005 standard. The analysis of the obtained results allowed us to establish that the vapor permeability of two-layer nanofibrous materials made of polyamide-6 and polyvinyl alcohol depends on the composition and thickness of the nanofibrous coating. Increasing the coating thickness and adding hydrophobic components to its composition leads to an insignificant decrease in vapor permeability.