Electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibers as thin layer chromatographic media for eco-friendly screening of steroids adulterated in traditional medicine and nutraceutical products

Nanofibers fabricated from cheap, naturally derived biopolymer, namely cellulose acetate via facile electrospinning technique were successfully applied for the first time to use as separation media for thin layer chromatography (TLC). From the optimization studies, uniform, bead-free nanofibers with good adherence to the backing plates were obtained by electrospinning 17% (w/v) cellulose acetate solution prepared in acetone/N,N-dimethylacetamide (2:1, v-v), using a feed rate of 0.6 mL/h and an electrostatic field strength of 17.5 kV/15 cm for 4 h. The nanofibers exhibited reversed phase characteristics, thereby offering the possibility to use simple, polar and more environmental friendly mixtures of water and alcohols as mobile phase. In this work, the application of the fabricated fibers was illustrated by using them combined with the optimal mobile phase e.g. ethanol/water (40:60, v-v) for the screening of steroids adulterated in traditional medicine and nutraceutical products. Due to the satisfactory separation performance, electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibers were shown to be an efficient alternative for TLC media and could be potentially used for the development of green and facile analytical methods.