The objective of this study is to develop a structural nanocomposite of multiple components in the form of core-sheath nanofibres using coaxial electrospinning for the fast dissolving of a poorly water-soluble drug quercetin. Under the selected conditions, core-sheath nanofibres with quercetin and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) distributed in the core and sheath part of nanofibres, respectively, were successfully generated, and the drug content in the nanofibres was able to be controlled simply through manipulating the core fluid flow rates. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) images demonstrated that the nanofibres prepared from the single sheath fluid and double core/sheath fluids (with core-to-sheath flow rate ratios of 0.4 and 0.7) have linear morphology with a uniform structure and smooth surface. The TEM images clearly demonstrated the core-sheath structures of the produced nanocomposites. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results verified that quercetin and SDS were well distributed in the polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) matrix in an amorphous state, due to the favourite second-order interactions. In vitro dissolution studies showed that the core-sheath composite nanofibre mats could disintegrate rapidly to release quercetin within 1 min. The study reported here provides an example of the systematic design, preparation, characterization and application of a new type of structural nanocomposite as a fast-disintegrating drug delivery system.
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