Electrospinning of hexanoyl chitosan/polylactide blends

The electrospinning of hexanoyl chitosan (H-chitosan), polylactide (PLA) and their blends was performed using chloroform, dichloromethane or tetrahydrofuran as a spinning solvent. The as-spun PLA fibers appeared to be cross-sectionally round, with rough surface morphology, while the as-spun H-chitosan fibers were flat with smooth surface morphology. Electrospinning of the H-chitosan/PLA blend solutions in chloroform with the H-chitosan solution content of less than or equal to 50% (w/w) produced continuous fibers without the presence of beads, while that of the blend solutions in dichloromethane produced beaded fibers or even just beads at high H-chitosan solution contents. The size of the as-spun fibers from blend solutions with a H-chitosan solution content of less than or equal to 50% (w/w) was found to decrease with increasing the H-chitosan solution content. Thermal characteristics and crystalline structure of selected as-spun fibers from pure and blend solutions in chloroform were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) techniques.