Chitosan nanofibers from an easily electrospinnable UHMWPEO-doped chitosan solution system

Abstract

Conversion of natural biopolymer chitosan into nanofibers through electrospinning has significant usefulness in various biomedical applications, in particular, for constructing a biomimetic and bioactive nanofibrous artificial extracellular matrix for engineering various tissues. Here, we show that introduction of an ultrahigh-molecular-weight poly(ethylene oxide) (UHMWPEO) into aqueous chitosan solutions remarkably enhances the formation of chitosan nanofibrous structure and leads to much lower loading of the water soluble fiber-forming aiding agent of PEO down to 5 wt % as compared to previous high PEO loadings in the electrospun chitosan nanofibers. The excellent electrospinnability of the current formulation renders electrospinning of natural biopolymer chitosan a robust process for large-scale production of practically applicable nanofibrous structures. © 2008 American Chemical Society.