Fabrication of chitosan based nanofibers by electrospinning and their characterisation

Abstract

Electrospinning is used to produce fibers in the nanometer range by stretching a polymeric jet using electric field of high magnitude. Electrospinning leads to the formation of continuous fibers ranging from 0.01 to 10 ìm . The ultra-fine fibers produced by electro spinning are expected to have two main properties, a very high surface to volume ratio, and a relatively defect free structure at the molecular level . The development of nanofibers by electrospinning process has led to potential applications in filtration, military protective clothing, and biological applications such as tissue engineering scaffolds, drug delivery devices , artificial organ components etc. The present study is an attempt to fabricate composite nanofibers that can be used as tissue engineering scaffolds. The approach involves the blending of two different polymers both being biocompatible and biodegradable but one is natural and other is synthetic along with a surfactant. Composites in the form of nanofibers were formed via electrospinning technique. Different ratios of Chitosan:PEO(Polyethylene glycol:DATB(Dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide) blends were prepared and successfully electrospunned so that the nanofibers obtained could mimic the natural ECM(Extra Cellular Matrix). It was found that usage of DTAB in the blend yielded fibers in the range of 50-250 nm which could be suitable for tissue engineering.. The prepared composite scaffolds were characterised using several techniques such as SEM(Scanning Electron Microscopy), FTIR(Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, XRD(X-ray Diffraction) . Also solubility and biodegradability tests were carried out for the prepared scaffolds. It was found that at feed rate 0.5ml/hr and voltage 25kV ,Chitosan:PEO ratios of 70/30 and 80/20 with DTAB concentration of 15mM yielded better nanofibers as compared to higher DTAB concentrations.