KARAKTERISASI SIFAT MEKANIS DAN FISIS ELECTROSPUN NANOEMULSI KITOSAN (NeCS) / POLYVINIL ALKOHOL (PVA)
Abstract
The polymer materials of chitosan (CS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) have
attracted research interest in biomedical applications such as for wound dressing
material due to their non-toxicity and biocompatibility. The electrospun nanofiber
membranes made of a blended CS and PVA seemed to behave a relatively low
tensile strength. In this research, therefore, the electrospun nanofiber membranes
were prepared using the blended CS nano-emulsion (CSNe) and PVA to increase
the tensile strength of the membrane. The effect of the addition of CSNe
concentration into the PVA solution on the changes in nanofiber morphology has
also been studied.
Fabrication of the CSNe/PVA nanofiber membranes was began by preparing
a PVA solution (10 wt. %) as a matrix. After that, the spinning solution of
CSNe/PVA with various CSNe concentrations (0, 5, 10, 15 wt. 5%) was prepared
by the addition of CSNe as fillers into the PVA solution. The electrospinning
process of CSNe/PVA solution was carried out under the optimized conditions of
applied voltage 15 kV, a fix distance from the syringe needle tip to a collector
plate (TCD) 12 mm and internal diameter (ID) of the needle 8 mm. The viscosity
and conductivity of the spinning solutions were measured using a viscometer and
conductometer, respectively. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was employed
to characterize the morphology of the membranes and the membranes were tensile
tested using a universal testing machine (UTM).
The results indicated that the properties of spinning solutions affect the
morphology of the nanofiber membranes. A decrease of the viscosity reduces the
fiber diameter. Changes in the electrical conductivity of the spinning solution
provide an impact on the uniformity of the fiber size ranging from 143.80 nm to
264.83 nm. The lowest (7.099 MPa) and highest (8.6404 MPa) tensile strengths
were shown in the membrane with 0% and 15% CSNe concentrations,
respectively. Whereas, the modulus elasticity of the membranes was ranging from
82.791 MPa to 108.365 MPa. The produced CSNe/PVA nanofiber membranes are
expected to be useful as a wound dressing material shortly soon.