Preparation and characterizations of EGDE crosslinked chitosan electrospun membranes
Issue title: Special issue: Advanced Functional Polymers in Medicine (AFPM): Liège, Belgium, May 2014; Guest-Editors: Christine Jérôme and Andreas Lendlein
Affiliations: [a] Center for Macromolecules Study and Research, Institut de Chimie, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium | [b] Laboratory of Connective Tissues Biology, GIGA Research Center, University of Liège, Sart Tilman, Belgium | [c] Laboratory of Cells and Tissues, University of Namur (FUNDP), Namur, Belgium
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Abdelhafid Aqil, Ph.D., Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules (CERM), University of Liège, Sart-Tilman, B6a, B-4000 Liège, Belgium. Tel.: +32 4 3663514; Fax: +32 4 3663497; [email protected]
Abstract: Composite Crosslinked nanofibrous membranes of chitosan, ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE) and polyethylene oxide was successfully prepared with bead free morphology via electrospinning technique followed by heat mediated chemical crosslinking. Architectural stability of nanofiber mat in aqueous medium was achieved by chemical crosslinking of only 1% EGDE, and tensile strength tests revealed that increasing EGDE content has considerably enhance the elastic modulus of nanofibers. The structure, morphology and mechanical properties of nanofibers were characterized by Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR–FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Instron machine, respectively. Skin fibroblasts and endothelial cells showed good attachment, proliferation and viability on crosslinked electrospun membranes. The results indicate a good biocompatibility and non-toxic nature of the resulted membrane.
