Preparation of Chitosan-Thiamine Pyrophosphate/Polyvinyl Alcohol Blend Electrospun Nanofibers

Electrospinning of chitosan (CS) has been interested due to the excellent properties of CS such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, antibacterial and non toxic. In this study, chitosan-thiamine pyrophosphate (CS-TPP)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) blend nanofibers were prepared using electrospinning techniques without acidic and organic solvent. CS was dissolved with TPP aqueous solution and then blended with PVA solution at various weight ratios. Physicochemical properties of CS-TPP/PVA solution such as viscosity, conductivity and surface tension were evaluated. The morphology and diameter of the electrospun fiber mats were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical structure was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The morphology and diameter of the nanofibers were mainly affected by the weight ratio of the blend polymers. Nanofibers were obtained when the CS-TPP content was less than 50% wt. The average diameter of the nanofibers was 99.91-216.42 nm, and the fiber diameter decreased with increasing CS-TPP content. Cytotoxicity tests in human fibroblast cells showed that the fibers had low toxic to the cells. In conclusion, these CS electrospun nanofiber mats can be applied for the wound dressing or transdermal drug delivery systems.