Morphological and Structural Characteristics of Biodegradable Fucoidan–Polyvinyl Alcohol Nanofibers

ABSTRACT The principal objective of this investigation was to formulate and evaluate biodegradable fucoidan (FUC) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofiber films utilizing an eco‐friendly electrospinning method. The influence of diverse FUC‐to‐PVA ratios (10:90, 30:70, 50:50, 70:30, and 90:10), in conjunction with operational variables such as injection flow rate (0.5 and 1 mL/h) and applied voltage (15 and 20 kV), was systematically examined to enhance fiber morphology and characteristics. Incorporating FUC into the composite blends led to a decrease in apparent viscosity and an increase in solution conductivity. A rise in fiber diameter was noted as the flow rate increased, coupled with a simultaneous reduction in voltage. The findings reveal that a FUC:PVA ratio of 10:90, maintained at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/h and a consistent voltage of 15 kV, produces uniform nanofibers devoid of beads with diameters of approximately 193.66 nm. The alterations in XRD patterns and FTIR spectra demonstrated that FUC and PVA were effectively interwoven within the nanofibers. The results derived from TGA suggest that the thermal stability of the nanofiber mats exhibited an improvement in comparison to the unadulterated PVA. FUC:PVA (90:10) electrospun nanofibers showed superior barrier and mechanical performance, high solubility, and strong antioxidant activity, highlighting their potential as active food packaging materials. Such composite materials hold promising uses in the pharmaceutical and food industries for developing innovative products with tailored material properties.