Preparation of lotus nanofibers-alginate porous membranes for biomedical applications

Abstract

Tissue and organ failure or loss is a major problem for human health, and the construction of tissue engineering porous scaffold materials is a core step in the repair of damaged tissue and organs. Fibers from the lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) plant can be a source of superfine fibers. Such fibers have excellent biocompatibility, and they are easy to convert into nanofibers that could be applied for tissue engineering. Lotus fibers were carboxyl-modified with the TEMPO/NaClO/NaBr system, and lotus nanofibers were prepared. The effect of oxidation conditions on their morphologies and degrees of oxidation were investigated. The diameters of the lotus nanofibers were about 15 nm. Additionally, the degrees of oxidation of lotus nanofibers increased with an increase of oxidation time. Moreover, the oxidized sodium alginate membranes crosslinked with carboxymethyl chitosan degraded quickly, with the degradation rates increased by 82.1% or 100.0% during a 14-day period. By increasing the dosage of carboxymethyl chitosan, the pH values tend to rise. In comparison, the degradation rates of the lotus nanofibers/alginate porous membranes crosslinked with carboxymethyl chitosan exhibited better performance in terms of microstructure, porosity, water absorption, mechanical properties (0.36 MPa /7.7%), and in vitro degradation (59.2%).