Browsing by Author "Aytac Z."
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Item Open Access Antibacterial electrospun zein nanofibrous web encapsulating thymol/cyclodextrin-inclusion complex for food packaging(Elsevier, 2017-10) Aytac Z.; Ipek, S.; Durgun, Engin; Tekinay, T.; Uyar, TamerThymol (THY)/γ-Cyclodextrin(γ-CD) inclusion complex (IC) encapsulated electrospun zein nanofibrous webs (zein-THY/γ-CD-IC-NF) were fabricated as a food packaging material. The formation of THY/γ-CD-IC (1:1 and 2:1) was proved by experimental (X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), 1H NMR) and computational techniques. THY/γ-CD-IC (2:1) exhibited higher preservation rate and stability than THY/γ-CD-IC (1:1). It is worth mentioning that zein-THY/γ-CD-IC-NF (2:1) preserved much more THY as observed in TGA and stability of THY/γ-CD-IC (2:1) was higher, as shown by a modelling study. Therefore, much more THY was released from zein-THY/γ-CD-IC-NF (2:1) than zein-THY-NF and zein-THY/γ-CD-IC-NF (1:1). Similarly, antibacterial activity of zein-THY/γ-CD-IC-NF (2:1) was higher than zein-THY-NF and zein-THY/γ-CD-IC-NF (1:1). It was demonstrated that zein-THY/γ-CD-IC-NF (2:1) was most effective in inhibiting the growth of bacteria on meat samples. These webs show potential application as an antibacterial food packaging material.Item Open Access Design and fabrication of auxetic PCL nanofiber membranes for biomedical applications(Elsevier, 2017-12) Bhullar, S. K.; Rana, D.; Lekesiz, H.; Bedeloglu, A. C.; Ko, J.; Cho, Y.; Aytac Z.; Uyar, Tamer; Jun, M.; Ramalingam, M.The main objective of this study was to fabricate poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-based auxetic nanofiber membranes and characterize them for their mechanical and physicochemical properties. As a first step, the PCL nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning with two different thicknesses of 40 μm (called PCL thin membrane) and 180 μm (called PCL thick membrane). In the second step, they were tailored into auxetic patterns using femtosecond laser cut technique. The physicochemical and mechanical properties of the auxetic nanofiber membranes were studied and compared with the conventional electrospun PCL nanofibers (non-auxetic nanofiber membranes) as a control. The results showed that there were no significant changes observed among them in terms of their chemical functionality and thermal property. However, there was a notable difference observed in the mechanical properties. For instance, the thin auxetic nanofiber membrane showed the magnitude of elongation almost ten times higher than the control, which clearly demonstrates the high flexibility of auxetic nanofiber membranes. This is because that the auxetic nanofiber membranes have lesser rigidity than the control nanofibers under the same load which could be due to the rotational motion of the auxetic structures. The major finding of this study is that the auxetic PCL nanofiber membranes are highly flexible (10-fold higher elongation capacity than the conventional PCL nanofibers) and have tunable mechanical properties. Therefore, the auxetic PCL nanofiber membranes may serve as a potent material in various biomedical applications, in particular, tissue engineering where scaffolds with mechanical cues play a major role.Item Open Access Electrospinning of cyclodextrin/linalool-inclusion complex nanofibers: fast-dissolving nanofibrous web with prolonged release and antibacterial activity(Elsevier, 2017-09) Aytac Z.; Yildiz, Z. I.; Kayaci-Senirmak, F.; Tekinay, T.; Uyar, TamerThe volatility and limited water solubility of linalool is a critical issue to be solved. Here, we demonstrated the electrospinning of polymer-free nanofibrous webs of cyclodextrin/linalool-inclusion complex (CD/linalool-IC-NFs). Three types of modified cyclodextrin (HPβCD, MβCD, and HPγCD) were used to electrospin CD/linalool-IC-NFs. Free-standing CD/linalool-IC-NFs facilitate maximum loading of linalool up to 12% (w/w). A significant amount of linalool (45–89%) was preserved in CD/linalool-IC-NFs, due to enhancement in the thermal stability of linalool by cyclodextrin inclusion complexation. Remarkably, CD/linalool-IC-NFs have shown fast-dissolving characteristics in which these nanofibrous webs dissolved in water within two seconds. Furthermore, linalool release from CD/linalool-IC-NFs inhibited growth of model Gram-negative (E. coli) and Gram-positive (S. aureus) bacteria to a great extent. Briefly, characteristics of liquid linalool have been preserved in a solid nanofiber form and designed CD/linalool-IC-NFs confer high loading capacity, enhanced shelf life and strong antibacterial activity of linalool.Item Open Access Electrospinning of polymer-free cyclodextrin/geraniol-inclusion complex nanofibers: enhanced shelf-life of geraniol with antibacterial and antioxidant properties(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Aytac Z.; Yildiz, Z. I.; Kayaci-Senirmak, F.; Keskin, S. N. O.; Tekinay, T.; Uyar, TamerFree-standing nanofibrous webs of cyclodextrin/geraniol-inclusion complex (CD/geraniol-IC-NF) showing antibacterial, antioxidant activity and slow release of geraniol were developed as flavour/fragrance releasing materials via electrospinning. The electrospinning of CD/geraniol-IC-NFs with uniform and bead-free morphology was achieved without using a polymer matrix. Three types of CDs modified with hydroxypropyl and methyl groups (HPβCD, MβCD, and HPγCD) were used to obtain CD/geraniol-IC-NFs. The polymer-free CD/geraniol-IC-NFs allow us to attain much higher geraniol loading (∼11%, w/w) when compared to electrospun polymeric nanofibers containing CD/geraniol-IC (∼5%, w/w). Geraniol has a volatile nature, yet, a significant amount of geraniol (∼60-90%) was preserved in CD/geraniol-IC-NFs due to the complexation, whereas evaporation of geraniol was unavoidable for polymeric nanofibers incorporating geraniol without cyclodextrin. Short-term (3 h) temperature dependent release (37 °C, 50 °C, and 75 °C) and long-term open air (50 days, at RT) release tests revealed that MβCD/geraniol-IC-NF released less geraniol compared to HPβCD/geraniol-IC-NF and HPγCD/geraniol-IC-NF, indicating that much stronger inclusion complexation was formed between MβCD and geraniol. The release of geraniol from CD/geraniol-IC-NFs prevented the colonization of Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria to a great extent, as observed in the antibacterial activity results. It was observed that CD/geraniol-IC-NFs had higher antioxidant activity compared to pure geraniol due to the solubility increase. In brief, the results reported here may open a new door to enhance the performance of essential oils and flavour/fragrances, to preserve volatile compounds from evaporation and to better understand the potential of CD/IC-NFs as carrier systems for guest compounds in the food, cosmetic and household cleaning industries.Item Open Access Encapsulation of gallic acid/cyclodextrin inclusion complex in electrospun polylactic acid nanofibers: release behavior and antioxidant activity of gallic acid(Elsevier, 2016-06) Aytac Z.; Kusku S. I.; Durgun, Engin; Uyar, TamerCyclodextrin-inclusion complexes (CD-ICs) possess great prominence in food and pharmaceutical industries due to their enhanced ability for stabilization of active compounds during processing, storage and usage. Here, CD-IC of gallic acid (GA) with hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (GA/HPβCD-IC) was prepared and then incorporated into polylactic acid (PLA) nanofibers (PLA/GA/HPβCD-IC-NF) using electrospinning technique to observe the effect of CD-ICs in the release behavior of GA into three different mediums (water, 10% ethanol and 95% ethanol). The GA incorporated PLA nanofibers (PLA/GA-NFs) were served as control. Phase solubility studies showed an enhanced solubility of GA with increasing amount of HPβCD. The detailed characterization techniques (XRD, TGA and 1H-NMR) confirmed the formation of inclusion complex between GA and HPβCD. Computational modeling studies indicated that the GA made an efficient complex with HPβCD at 1:1 either in vacuum or aqueous system. SEM images revealed the bead-free and uniform morphology of PLA/GA/HPβCD-IC-NF. The release studies of GA from PLA/GA/HPβCD-IC-NF and PLA/GA-NF were carried out in water, 10% ethanol and 95% ethanol, and the findings revealed that PLA/GA/HPβCD-IC-NF has released much more amount of GA in water and 10% ethanol system when compared to PLA/GA-NF. In addition, GA was released slowly from PLA/GA/HPβCD-IC-NF into 95% ethanol when compared to PLA/GA-NF. It was also observed that electrospinning process had no negative effect on the antioxidant activity of GA when GA was incorporated in PLA nanofibers.Item Open Access Fast-dissolving, prolonged release, and antibacterial cyclodextrin/limonene-inclusion complex nanofibrous webs via polymer-free electrospinning(American Chemical Society, 2016) Aytac Z.; Yildiz, Z. I.; Kayaci-Senirmak, F.; S. Keskin, N. O.; Kusku, S. I.; Durgun, Engin; Tekinay, T.; Uyar, TamerWe have proposed a new strategy for preparing free-standing nanofibrous webs from an inclusion complex (IC) of a well-known flavor/fragrance compound (limonene) with three modified cyclodextrins (HPβCD, MβCD, and HPγCD) via electrospinning (CD/limonene-IC-NFs) without using a polymeric matrix. The experimental and computational modeling studies proved that the stoichiometry of the complexes was 1:1 for CD/limonene systems. MβCD/limonene-IC-NF released much more limonene at 37, 50, and 75 °C than HPβCD/limonene-IC-NF and HPγCD/limonene-IC-NF because of the greater amount of preserved limonene. Moreover, MβCD/limonene-IC-NF has released only 25% (w/w) of its limonene, whereas HPβCD/limonene-IC-NF and HPγCD/limonene-IC-NF released 51 and 88% (w/w) of their limonene in 100 days, respectively. CD/limonene-IC-NFs exhibited high antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. The water solubility of limonene increased significantly and CD/limonene-IC-NFs were dissolved in water in a few seconds. In brief, CD/limonene-IC-NFs with fast-dissolving character enhanced the thermal stability and prolonged the shelf life along with antibacterial properties could be quite applicable in food and oral care applications.Item Open Access Fluorescent Si QD decoration onto a flexible polymeric electrospun nanofibrous mat for the colorimetric sensing of TNT(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017) Arslan, O.; Aytac Z.; Uyar, TamerUV range light was used for the facile, effective and large-scale synthesis of visible light emitting, surface-protected silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) starting from an amine-functionalized alkoxy silane precursor. Within mild and easy hydrolysis/condensation environments, the use of an amine-functionalized precursor together with a reducing agent resulted in a bright visible green light that could be used for fluorescent analytical detection systems. Visible light emitting Si QDs were investigated and it was found that their emission character depends on the illumination time, hydrolysis/condensation conditions and pretreatments for the silane coupling agents. A Nylon 6,6 electrospun nanofibrous mat was selected as a substrate for decoration by the Si QDs in order to fabricate a flexible and free-standing polymeric nanofibrous mat posessing a visible light emitting character so that it could act as a visible colorimetric sensor. The visible light emitting Si QDs were decorated onto the Nylon 6,6 nanofibrous mats via covering the surfaces as a ‘nanodress’ by a simple impregnation/dip-coating and heat-curing methods. The analytical results revealed that the Si QDs decorated flexible polymeric nanofibrous mats could be utilized for colorimetric trinitrotoluene (TNT) detection in low concentrations.Item Open Access Grain boundary engineering in electrospun ZnO nanostructures as promising photocatalysts(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Senthamizhan A.; Balusamy, B.; Aytac Z.; Uyar, TamerElectrospun ZnO nanofibers (ZNF) have received increased attention as photocatalysts owing to their potential for incredible performance. However, uncertainty still exists in determining the correlation between grain boundaries (GBs) and photocatalytic activity. Therefore, effective thought has been put into engineering the GBs to convert ZNF into a promising photocatalyst. Herein, the obtained electrospun ZnO structures are composed of nanograins, which are connected to each other in an ordered manner. In-depth studies have revealed that the growth of nanograins severely altered the morphology of ZNF and GB areas at higher annealing temperatures ranging from 500 °C to 1000 °C. Based on the morphological features and their structural evolution, the obtained structures are named as ZnO nanofibers-1 (ZNF-1, 500 °C), ZnO hollow tubes (ZHT, 600 °C), ZnO nanofibers-2 (ZNF-2, 700 °C), ZnO bamboo structured fibers (ZBF, 800 °C), ZnO segmented fibers (ZSF, 900 °C) and ZnO nanoparticles (ZNP, 1000 °C). A strong correlation between the inherent emission features of ZNF and their peak positions have been detected with the GB. The comparative degradation efficiency of methylene blue (MB) has been studied and the results showed that the ZNF-1 with highly stacked nanograins containing rich grain boundaries demonstrated ∼6 times higher efficiency than other structures. In addition, it has been shown to have a strong effect towards the degradation of Rhodamine B (Rh B) and 4-nitro-phenol (4-NP). A critical parameter for improving the photocatalytic activity is found to be the GB mediated defects, which are proposed to be oxygen/zinc vacancies at nanograin fusion interfaces, while supposedly maintaining its fibrous structure, wherein no relationship has been drawn implying the direct domination of morphology, surface area and defect.Item Open Access One-step synthesis of size-tunable Ag nanoparticles incorporated in electrospun PVA/cyclodextrin nanofibers(Pergamon Press, 2014) Celebioglu A.; Aytac Z.; Umu, O. C. O.; Dana, A.; Tekinay, T.; Uyar, TamerOne-step synthesis of size-tunable silver nanoparticles (Ag-NP) incorporated into electrospun nanofibers was achieved. Initially, in situ reduction of silver salt (AgNO3) to Ag-NP was carried out in aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Here, PVA was used as reducing agent and stabilizing polymer as well as electrospinning polymeric matrix for the fabrication of PVA/Ag-NP nanofibers. Afterwards, hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) was used as an additional reducing and stabilizing agent in order to control size and uniform dispersion of Ag-NP. The size of Ag-NP was ∼8 nm and some Ag-NP aggregates were observed for PVA/Ag-NP nanofibers, conversely, the size of Ag-NP decreased from ∼8 nm down to ∼2 nm within the fiber matrix without aggregation were attained for PVA/HPβCD nanofibers. The PVA/Ag-NP and PVA/HPβCD/Ag-NP nanofibers exhibited surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect. Moreover, antibacterial properties of PVA/Ag-NP and PVA/HPβCD/Ag-NP nanofibrous mats were tested against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria.Item Open Access Quercetin/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex embedded nanofibres: slow release and high solubility(Elsevier, 2016-04) Aytac Z.; Kusku, S. I.; Durgun, Engin; Uyar, TamerElectrospinning of polyacrylic acid (PAA) nanofibres (NF) incorporating β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex (β-CD-IC) of quercetin (QU) was performed. Here, β-CD was used as not only the crosslinking agent for PAA nanofibres but also as a host molecule for inclusion of QU. The phase solubility test showed enhanced solubility of QU due to the inclusion complexation; in addition, the stoichiometry of QU/β-CD-IC was determined to be 1:1. Computational modelling studies confirmed that 1:1 and 1:2 complex formation are desirable; 1:1 complex formation was chosen to have higher weight loading of QU. SEM images showed that PAA/QU/β-CD-IC-NF were bead-free and uniform. XRD indicated that PAA/QU/β-CD-IC-NF were amorphous in nature without the crystalline peaks of QU. Comparative results revealed that the release profile of QU from PAA/QU/β-CD-IC-NF was much slower but greater in total than from PAA/QU/β-CD-IC-film. Moreover, high antioxidant activity and photostability of QU was achieved in PAA/QU/β-CD-IC-NF.Item Open Access Release and antibacterial activity of allyl isothiocyanate/β-cyclodextrin complex encapsulated in electrospun nanofibers(Elsevier, 2014) Aytac Z.; Dogan, S.Y.; Tekinay, T.; Uyar, TamerAllyl isothiocyanate (AITC) is known as an efficient antibacterial agent but it has a very high volatility. Herein, AITC and AITC/β-cyclodextrin (CD)-inclusion complex (IC) incorporated in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers were produced via electrospinning. SEM images elucidated that incorporation of AITC and AITC/β-CD-IC into polymer matrix did not affect the bead-free fiber morphology of PVA nanofibers. 1H-NMR and headspace GC-MS analyses revealed that very low amount of AITC was remained in PVA/AITC-NF because of the rapid evaporation of AITC during the electrospinning process. Nevertheless, much higher amount of AITC was preserved in the PVA/AITC/β-CD-IC-NF due to the CD inclusion complexation. The sustained release of AITC from nanofibers was evaluated at 30°C, 50°C and 75°C via headspace GC-MS. When compared to PVA/AITC-NF, PVA/AITC/β-CD-IC-NF has shown higher antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus due to the presence of higher amount of AITC in this sample which was preserved by CD-IC. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.Item Open Access Superhydrophobic, hybrid, electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibrous mats for oil/water separation by tailored surface modification(American Chemical Society, 2016) Arslan, O.; Aytac Z.; Uyar, TamerElectrospun cellulose acetate nanofibers (CA-NF) have been modified with perfluoro alkoxysilanes (FS/CA-NF) for tailoring their chemical and physical features aiming oil-water separation purposes. Strikingly, hybrid FS/CA-NF showed that perfluoro groups are rigidly positioned on the outer surface of the nanofibers providing superhydrophobic characteristic with a water contact angle of ∼155°. Detailed analysis showed that hydrolysis/condensation reactions led to the modification of the acetylated β(1 → 4) linked d-glucose chains of CA transforming it into a superhydrophobic nanofibrous mat. Analytical data have revealed that CA-NF surfaces can be selectively controlled for fabricating the durable, robust and water resistant hybrid electrospun nanofibrous mat. The -OH groups available on the CA structure allowed the basic sol-gel reactions started by the reactive FS hybrid precursor system which can be monitored by spectroscopic analysis. Since alkoxysilane groups on the perfluoro silane compound are capable of reacting for condensation together with the CA, superhydrophobic nanofibrous mat is obtained via electrospinning. This structural modification led to the facile fabrication of the novel oil/water nanofibrous separator which functions effectively demonstrated by hexane/oil and water separation experiments. Perfluoro groups consequently modified the hydrophilic CA nanofibers into superhydrophobic character and therefore FS/CA-NF could be quite practical for future applications like water/oil separators, as well as self-cleaning or water resistant nanofibrous structures.Item Open Access Ultrasensitive electrospun fluorescent nanofibrous membrane for rapid visual colorimetric detection of H2O2(Springer Verlag, 2016-02) Senthamizhan A.; Balusamy, B.; Aytac Z.; Uyar, TamerWe report herein a flexible fluorescent nanofibrous membrane (FNFM) prepared by decorating the gold nanocluster (AuNC) on electrospun polysulfone nanofibrous membrane for rapid visual colorimetric detection of H2O2. The provision of AuNC coupled to NFM has proven to be advantageous for facile and quick visualization of the obtained results, permitting instant, selective, and on-site detection. We strongly suggest that the fast response time is ascribed to the enhanced probabilities of interaction with AuNC located at the surface of NF. It has been observed that the color change from red to blue is dependent on the concentration, which is exclusively selective for hydrogen peroxide. The detection limit has been found to be 500 nM using confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM), visually recognizable with good accuracy and stability. A systematic comparison was performed between the sensing performance of FNFM and AuNC solution. The underlying sensing mechanism is demonstrated using UV spectra, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The corresponding disappearance of the characteristic emissions of gold nanoclusters and the emergence of a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) band, stressing this unique characteristic of gold nanoparticles. Hence, it is evident that the conversion of nanoparticles from nanoclusters has taken place in the presence of H2O2. Our work here has paved a new path for the detection of bioanalytes, highlighting the merits of rapid readout, sensitivity, and user-friendliness.