Electrospinning chitosan

Queen, H., Master thesis. Electrospinning chitosan-based nanofibers for biomedical applications. North Carolina state University (2006)... 

Since chitosan is soluble in aqueous media which has low volatility, it is diflhcult to electrospin chitosan solely. Therefore, researchers tended to mix chitosan with other highly spinnable biocompatible polymers in order to obtain electrospun nanoflbers containing chitosan. For instance, chitosan was blended with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and electrospun successfully to be tested for their ability to enhance fibroblasts growth. The produced nanofibers were cross-linked to decrease their solubility before being tested for their biocompatibility and tissue regeneration effect. They showed promising results to be used as scaffolds and wound dressings (Powell and Boyce 2009 Liu and Kim 2012). 

Water (4-6 wt%) In electrospinning chitosan/PEO Duan et al. (2004) blend solutions spectroscopic and thermal analysis techniques showed heterogeneity in the mat with larger diameter fibers being entirely made of PE. 

The first successful preparation Spasova et al. (2004) of chitosan-containing nanofibers achieved by electrospinning chitosan/ poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) blend solutions. 

Concentrated acetic acid can be used as an alternative solvent to dissolve and electrospin chitosan. Geng et al. [163] obtained imiform chitosan fibers when the concentration aqueous acetic acid ranged from 30% to 90% but only from chitosan with a concentration of 7 wt %, 54% DD, and a medium molecular weight of 106,000 g/mol. They foimd that increased acetic acid concentration decreased the surface tension of the chitosan solution without affecting the viscosity significantly. These effects would facilitate fiber formation from chitosan. The feasibility of utilizing concentrated acetic acid as solvent for chitosan was further confirmed by De Vrieze et al. [164]... 

Given the ease of PEO to form fibers, a group of researchers utilized it as a template for electrospinning chitosan fibers [174]. They first modified the syringe pump used for electrospinning to spin nanofibers with a chitosan core and a PEO sheath. Then the PEO sheath was removed by washing the fiber mat in deionized water to obtain chitosan nanofibers. 

Duan B et al (2004) Electrospinning of chitosan solutions in acetic acid with poly(ethylene oxide). J Biomater Sci Polym Hd 15(6) 797-811... 

Duan B et al (2006) A nanofibrous composite membrane of PLGA-chitosan/PVA prepared by electrospinning. Eur Polym J 42(9) 2013-2022... 

Duan B et al (2007) Hybrid nanofibrous membranes of PLGA/chitosan fabricated via an electrospinning array. J Biomed Mater Res A 83A(3) 868-878... 

In order to more accurately mimic the natural ECM, research has also examined the electrospinning of natural materials such as collagen [43, 44], chitosan [45],... 

Quatemized chitosan (QCh) derivatives have a high activity against bacteria and thus are potential candidates for wound dressing applications. Electrospun QCh fiber mats were successfully prepared by electrospinning QCh solutions mixed with PVA [131]. The electrospun QCh/PVA fiber mats were stabilized against dissolution in aqueous environment using photomediated crosslinking. 

Fig. 4 Synthesis of chitosan-PEG-FA (a), and electrospinning process for generating adenoviral (Ad)/chitosan-PEG-FA nanocomplexes (b)...

Highly porous chitosan-gelatin scaffolds by combining three different fabrication techniques, i.e., rapid prototyping, microreplication, and freeze-drying Natural nanofibrous scaffolds by electrospinning of GC into nanofibers... 

Pillai CKS, Chandra PS (2009) Electrospinning of chitin and chitosan nanofibres. Trends Biomater Artif Organs 22 175-197... 

Jia Y-T, Gong J, Xiao-Hua Gu et al (2007) Fabrication and characterization of poly (vinyl alcohol)/chitosan blend nanofibers produced by electrospinning method. Carbohydr Polym 67 403 9... 

Controlled increase in the surface area of isolated chitins and chitosans certainly results in more convenient chemical and biochemical reactivity. Likewise, controlled porosity is a means for optimizing the growth of human or animal cells within scaffolds. The mechanical disassembly of animal chitins under controlled conditions represents an important step forward in the exploitation of nanochitins and nanochitosans. Along with supercritical carbon dioxide drying, mechanical disassembly exhibits practical advantages over electrospinning. 

Schiffman, J.D., Schauer, C.L., 2007. One-step electrospinning of cross-linked chitosan fibers. Biomacromolecules 8 (9), 2665—2667. 

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