Chitosan-poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibers by free surface electrospinning for tissue engineering applications

Deformities in tissues and organs can be treated by using tissue engineering approach offering the development of biologically functionalized scaffolds from a variety of polymer blends which mimic the extracellular matrix and allow adjusting the material properties to meet the defect architecture. In recent years, research interest has been shown towards the development of chitosan (CS) based biomaterials for tissue engineering applications, because of its minimal foreign body reactions, intrinsic antibacterial property, biocompatibility, biodegradability and ability to be molded into various geometries and forms thereby making it suitable for cell ingrowth and conduction. The present work involves the fabrication of nanofibrous scaffold from CS and poly(vinyl alcohol) blends by free-surface electrospinning method. The morphology and functional characteristics of the developed scaffolds were assessed by field emission scanning electron microscopy and fourier transformed infra-red spectra analysis. The morphological analysis showed the average fiber diameter was 269 nm and thickness of the mat was 200-300 µm. X-ray diffraction study confirmed the crystalline nature of the prepared scaffolds, whereas hydrophilic characteristic of the prepared scaffolds was confirmed by measured contact angle. The scaffolds possess an adequate biodegradable, swelling and mechanical property that is found desirable for tissue engineering applications. The cell study using umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells has confirmed the in vitro biocompatibility and cell supportive property of the scaffold thereby depicting their potentiality for future clinical applications.