Biomaterials preparation by electrospinning of gelatin and sodium hyaluronate/gelatin nanofibers with non-toxic solvents

Abstract

Gelatin (Ge) based fibers have been produced by electrospinning with a non-toxic solvent for preparing membranes usable in maxillofacial surgery. Ge and Ge/sodium hyaluronate (SH) nanofibers were successfully electrospun to produce membranes whose thickness was around 150 to 200μm. The mean fiber diameter reached a maximum of 660nm for Ge fibers and 210nm for Ge/SH fibers. The presence of Ge and SH was confirmed in the membranes by Raman spectroscopy. Ge membranes had low mechanical properties and only small samples of 0.5cm in size could be retrieved from the collector as larger sample tended to tear and break. Ge/SH membranes could be retrieved from the collector slightly easily. Membranes could be handled carefully but in vivo implantation could not be planned due to poor mechanical resistance. Crosslinking by glutaraldehyde vapors reduced the mean porosity of Ge membranes; it totally prevents membranes to be retrieved from the collector. Beta tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) particles were added with Ge during electrospinning to increase osseointegration of the membranes and promote bone formation. β-TCP particles formed agglomerates outside the fibers, and we could not obtain β-TCP particles inside the Ge fibers due to their low diameter. In general, electrospun membranes lacked reproducibility. Despite the great interest of Ge-based membranes and Ge/β-TCP membranes, the low mechanical properties of the fibers, the lack of reproducibility and the difficulty to retrieve the membranes from the collector did not allow our biomaterials to be implanted or to be envisaged for industrial production.