Physico-chemical based mechanistic insight into surfactant modulated sodium Carboxymethylcellulose film for skin tissue regeneration applications

Skin tissue regeneration scaffolds represent a promising field of research focused on formulation and optimization of cost-effective extracellular matrix based on natural polymers. Sodium carboxymethylcellulose is one of the most widely studied and least expensive natural polymers for fabricating film formulations aiding in skin tissue regeneration process the following damage, but its hydrophilicity contributes to its failure to prevent loss of excessive moisture from wound, low adsorb-ability, less mechanical strength, and rapid erosion. This study aims to develop a surfactant modified sodium carboxymethylcellulose-based films addressing the needs for skin wound healing applications. Sodium carboxymethylcellulose films were developed with varying concentrations of tween 80 in the range of 0.05 to 0.5% w /w and subjected to various physicochemical characterization tests like adsorption, moisture uptake, erosion, water vapor transmission, and water vapor permeability rate, vibrational, thermal and morphological analysis. The results indicated that the formulation containing 0.3% w /w of tween 80 was able to form films with a significant-good adsorb-ability, reduced percent erosion and high tensile strength with the formation of “folds” in the film surface. The vibrational and thermal analysis revealed fluidization of hydrophilic as well as hydrophobic domains which was attributed to the development of new “bonding” between the polymer and surfactant and/or plasticizer moieties in the formulation which though didn’t affect the transition temperature but significantly reduced the energy to induce transition which is envisaged to increase the elasticity of the film. This optimized combination of polymer and tween 80 may play an effective role in hastening skin regeneration process following damage. Sodium carboxymethylcellulose films with added 0.3% w /w tween 80 represent an ideal combination for the fabrication of sodium carboxymethylcellulose.