title: Electrospinning of chitosan solutions in acetic acid with poly(ethylene oxide).
abstract: Electrospinning of chitosan solutions with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in an aqueous solution of 2 wt% acetic acid was studied. The properties of the chitosan/PEO solutions, including conductivity, surface tension and viscosity, were measured. Morphology of the electrospun chitosan/PEO was observed by using scanning electron micrographs. Results showed that the ultrafine fibers could be generated after addition of PEO in 2:1 or 1:1 mass ratios of chitosan to PEO from 4-6 wt% chitosan/PEO solutions at 15 kV voltage, 20 cm capillary-collector distance and flow rate 0.1 ml/h. During electrospinning of the chitosan/PEO solutions, ultrafine fibers with diameters from 80 nm to 180 nm were obtained, while microfibers with visually thicker diameters could be formed as well. Results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimeter exhibited the larger electrospun microfibers were almost entirely made from PEO, while the electrospun ultrafine fibers mainly contained chitosan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Polymer Materials Science and Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Cunhai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Kangde
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D019342:Acetic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D003445:Crustacea; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D048271:Chitosan; D019342:Acetic Acid