Electrospun chitosan/peo nanofibers and their relevance in biomedical application

Abstract

In the present study, chitosan was chosen as an excellent material for tissue scaffold and wound dressing design due to its versatile ability to stimulate the immune system, promote cellular growth, and control bacterial growth. Different mass ratio of blended solutions of 3% (w/w) chitosan in 2% (w/w) acetic acid and 3% (w/w) poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in distilled water were used to produce nanofibers by electrospinning method. Effects of solution and process parameters were studied. Results revealed that addition of PEO is necessary to enable spinnability of chitosan solution. Increasing the PEO amount in solutions resulted in lower viscosities and changes in rheological properties, better solution spinnability, fibrous morphology of obtained nanofibers and larger fibre diameter. Meanwhile, increased voltage resulted in thinner nanofibers with elongated beads. Such nanofibers offer advantageous selection for different biomedical fields. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.