Novel Manufacturing Process for Tencel/Chitosan/Pectin Composite Dressing

Abstract

The treatment for wound is a common issue in nursing procedure. Especially in serious wound, the treatment for wound usually spends many costs and time. Generally, wound dressing is used to protect the wound from bacterial infection in the intervening period between hospitalization and grafting. The pectin and chitosan are natural polymers that have biocompatibility and biodegradability, and pectin and chitosan can be easy obtainment and low cost. Tencel is a regenerated fiber. The Tencel fibers are biodegradable and hydrophilic, and have stable capability of dimension. Therefore, if the pectin and chitosan can be properly developed and combine with the tencel fabric for dressing use, the cost and time for wound treatment could be effective reduction. The absorbent cotton fibers were blended with the tencel fibers to create the cotton/Tencel nonwoven substance using nonwoven manufacturing technique. Chitosan will be electrospun on the Tencel nonwoven substance to create chitosan/Tencel composite nonwoven fabric. Furthermore, the surface structure of chitosan/Tencel composite nonwoven was observed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to examine spinning ability of chitosan. Additionally, the pectin solution was blended with calcium chloride solution. Then pectin blended solution was coated on the optimal chitosan/Tencel composite nonwoven fabric by using mesh printing technique to prepare composite dressing. The result shown the Tencel/chitosan/pectin composite dressing has good capabilities of water absorbency and evaporative water loss. This study showed that a novel process for medical dressing was useful, and the composite dressing had an advantage property on wound healing and protection.