Cross-linking effect on electrospun hydroxyethyl cellulose/poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibrous scaffolds

Abstract

The electrospinning of hydroxyethyl cellulose/poly(vinyl alcohol) (HEC/PVA) was carried out with glutaraldehyde as a cross linker to fabricate water insoluble nanofibers. The concentration of HEC (5wt%) and PVA (15wt%) was prepared and blended in different weight ratios of HEC to PVA (50:50, 40:60 and 70:30) were electrospun to get nanofibers. The microstructure of the obtained nanofibers were analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) before and after crosslinking. SEM images showed that there was no swelling or remarkable changes in the surface morphology after treated with glutaraldehyde. XRD analysis illustrated the effect of crosslinking on the crystallinity of the nanofibers. The results showed that these crosslinked HEC/PVA fibers were suitable for variety of applications such as tissue engineering scaffolds, drug delivery and medical prostheses.