Electrospinning chitosan blends for nonwovens with morphologies between nanofiber mat and membrane

Abstract

Chitosan belongs to the biopolymers possessing a broad spectrum of intrinsic physical and chemical properties which make it useful for diverse applications, such as filters or tissue engineering. For both areas it is necessary to control not only the chemical composition of the polymer, but also the shape of the surface which is in contact with the filtered medium or the growing cells, respectively. Depending on the desired form, chitosan and other biopolymers can be sprayed, coated, or spun, with few possibilities to vary their morphology between droplets, thin layers, and fibres. One possibility to mix thin films and fibres consists in using an electrospinning process which normally produces fine fibres, but depending on spinning solution and process, also membranes can be created. The article gives a short overview of the possibilities to vary a chitosan nonwoven between nanofiber mat and membrane, resulting in significantly different surface shapes.