Evaluation of the electrospinning manufacturing process based on the preparation of PVA composite fibres

Abstract

Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a highly biocompatible, biodegradable and non-toxic synthetic material. Chitosan and gelatin, as well as PVA, have been widely used materials in recent years owing to their excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, bacteriostasis and other desired characteristics. In this study, PVA/chitosan and PVA/gelatin nanofibrous composite membranes were fabricated using the electrospinning technique. The volume ratios of the PVA/chitosan and PVA/gelatin solutions were varied (90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40, 50/50, 40/60), and the electrical field was increased from 0.5 to 1 kV/cm. The micro-morphology of the composite membranes was examined by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) to compare the spinnability of PVA/Chitosan with that of the PVA/Gelatin electrospun membrane. Observation results indicate that when the volume ratio of the PVA/Chitosan and PVA/Gelatin solutions was 80/20, an optimal condition was obtained. SEM photographs of the PVA/Chitosan and PVA/Gelatin membranes demonstrate that PVA/Chitosan and PVA/Gelatin exhibited good spinnibility.