Fabrication and characterization of co-electrospun polycaprolactone/chitosan nanofibrous mats

Core-shell nanofibers were fabricated via coaxiall electrospinning using polycaprolactone (PCL) as the shell material and chitosan (CS) as the core material. The confirmation of core-shell structure of the electrospun nanofibers was performed by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and Water Contact Angle (WCA) measurements. The obtained results of FTIR showed that the surface of the core-shell nanofibers is uniformly covered with PCL, and CS was successfully encapsulated by PCL. The Morphological investigation was done by scanning electron macroscopy (SEM) which showed bead-free ultrafine CS-PCL core-shell nanofibers. PCL composition in the as-spun core-shell nanofibers was determind by DSC analysis based on the latent heat of PCL which was ۶۴.۳%. In vitro degradation test showed that because of the presence of core material, the fibrous structure of core-shell mat was maintained and prevented from the collapse of structure. The fabricated CS-PCL core-shell nanofibers have potentials in some biomedical applications.

Keywords:

Chitosan , Polycaprolactone , Electrospinning , Core-shell nanofibers ,