The gels of cellulose and its derivatives have a broad and deep application in pharmaceutics; however, limited attention has been paid to the influences of other additives on the gelation processes and their functional performances. In this study, a new type of electrospun core-shell nanohybrid was fabricated using modified, coaxial electrospinning which contained composites of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and acetaminophen (AAP) in the core sections and composites of PVP and sucralose in the shell sections. A series of characterizations demonstrated that the core-shell hybrids had linear morphology with clear core-shell nanostructures, and AAP and sucralose distributed in the core and shell section in an amorphous state separately due to favorable secondary interactions such as hydrogen bonding. Compared with the electrospun HPMC-AAP nanocomposites from single-fluid electrospinning of the core fluid, the core-shell nanohybrids were able to promote the water absorbance and HMPC gelation formation processes, which, in turn, ensured a faster release of AAP for potential orodispersible drug delivery applications. The mechanisms of the drug released from these nanofibers were demonstrated to be a combination of erosion and diffusion mechanisms. The presented protocols pave a way to adjust the properties of electrospun, cellulose-based, fibrous gels for better functional applications.
Keywords: HPMC; coaxial electrospinning; core–shell nanohybrids; fast dissolution; orodispersible drug delivery; poorly water-soluble drug.