Chitosan-poly(vinyl alcohol) blend nanofibers: Morphology, biological and antimicrobial properties

Abstract

Blend nanofibers from Chitosan (Cs) (Mw =1 × 10 6) in 2% acetic acid and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) (Mw=72 × 103) in deionized water were produced in 10/90, 20/80, 25/75, 50/50 mass ratio of Cs/PVA. The effect of blend ratio on the fiber formation and fiber properties has been investigated. Nanofibers produced were characterized by SEM, FTIR and DSC. The diameter of fibers increased with increasing chitosan content in blends. However, fibers with lower diameter showed micro cracks on the surface. FTIR data show that these two polymers have intermolecular interaction. DSC data reveals that the exothermic peak at about 200 0C for PVA decreased to lower temperature with increasing Cs content. Chitosan (Cs) (Mw =1 × 106) was hydrolyzed and the molecular weight reduced to 6.219 × 105 then we could electrospin the pure chitosan in 90% acetic acid as solvent and the nanofibers with diameter in the range of 43 nm were produced. SEM results showed that although the chitosan nanofibers were produced, because of high viscosity of solution there are a lot of beads on their surface. The cell culture result show excellent cell viability in this medium when the cells were exposed to chitosan/PVA nanofibers for 7 days in CO2 incubator, 99% RH and 37 °C. On the other hand the chitosan/PVA nanofibers in their antimicrobial experimentations showed efficient antimicrobial properties.