PREPERATION AND ANTIBACTERIAL INVESTIGATION OF POLYCAPROLACTONE/CHITOSAN NANO/MICRO FIBERS BY USING DIFFERENT SOLVENT SYSTEMS

Abstract

Chitosan (CHI) blended polycaprolactone (PCL) nano/micro fibers were prepared with different CHI content via electrospinning procedure. Two different solvents, acetone and formic acid (FA) were used to dissolve and blend the polymers before electrospinning process. Effect of the solvent on the electrospinability of the blend, final nano/micro fiber morphologies, chemical and thermal properties and antibacterial activities were investigated with SEM, FTIR, DSC, and ASTM 2149 01 Standard Dynamic Contact Conditions. The results revealed that chitosan particles were encapsulated in the as-spun PCL fibers with using acetone as the solvent resulted in reduced antibacterial activities Contrarily, when FA is used as the solvent, CHI and PCL were dissolved and blended very well, and enhanced antibacterial activities were obtained from as-spun PCL/CHI nano/micro fibers.