Preparation Of Chitosan Nanofibers Research Articles

A Review of Chitosan and Chitosan Nanofiber: Preparation, Characterization, and Its Potential Applications

Chitosan is produced by deacetylating the abundant natural chitin polymer. It has been employed in a variety of applications due to its unique solubility as well as its chemical and biological properties. In addition to being biodegradable and biocompatible, it also possesses a lot of reactive amino side groups that allow for chemical modification and the creation of a wide range of useful derivatives. The physical and chemical characteristics of chitosan, as well as how it is used in the food, environmental, and medical industries, have all been covered in a number of academic publications. Chitosan offers a wide range of possibilities in environmentally friendly textile processes because of its superior absorption and biological characteristics. Chitosan has the ability to give textile fibers and fabrics antibacterial, antiviral, anti-odor, and other biological functions. One of the most well-known and frequently used methods to create nanofibers is electrospinning. This technique is adaptable and effective for creating continuous nanofibers. In the field of biomaterials, new materials include nanofibers made of chitosan. Numerous medications, including antibiotics, chemotherapeutic agents, proteins, and analgesics for inflammatory pain, have been successfully loaded onto electro-spun nanofibers, according to recent investigations. Chitosan nanofibers have several exceptional qualities that make them ideal for use in important pharmaceutical applications, such as tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, wound dressing, and enzyme immobilization. The preparation of chitosan nanofibers, followed by a discussion of the biocompatibility and degradation of chitosan nanofibers, followed by a description of how to load the drug into the nanofibers, are the first issues highlighted by this review of chitosan nanofibers in drug delivery applications. The main uses of chitosan nanofibers in drug delivery systems will be discussed last.

An Overview of Chitosan Nanofibers and their Applications in the Drug Delivery Process.

Chitosan is a polycationic natural polymer which is abundant in nature. Chitosan has gained much attention as natural polymer in the biomedical field. The up to date drug delivery as well as the nanotechnology in controlled release of drugs from chitosan nanofibers are focused in this review. Electrospinning is one of the most established and widely used techniques for preparing nanofibers. This method is versatile and efficient for the production of continuous nanofibers. The chitosan-based nanofibers are emerging materials in the arena of biomaterials. Recent studies revealed that various drugs such as antibiotics, chemotherapeutic agents, proteins and anti-inflammatory analgesic drugs were successfully loaded onto electrospun nanofibers. Chitosan nanofibers have several outstanding properties for different significant pharmaceutical applications such as wound dressing, tissue engineering, enzyme immobilization, and drug delivery systems. This review highlights different issues of chitosan nanofibers in drug delivery applications, starting from the preparation of chitosan nanofibers, followed by giving an idea about the biocompatibility and degradation of chitosan nanofibers, then describing how to load the drug into the nanofibers. Finally, the major applications of chitosan nanofibers in drug delivery systems.

Preparation of chitosan nanofibers from completely deacetylated chitosan powder by a downsizing process

Chitosan nanofibers were easily prepared from fully deacetylated chitosan dry powder using a high-pressure waterjet system. From SEM observation, after 10 cycles of treatment, most of the chitosan had been reduced to homogeneous nanofibers measuring tens of nanometers. On the other hand, further mechanical treatment did not show a significant change. Relative crystallinity of chitosan nanofibers gradually decreased as the number of passes increased since high-pressure waterjet treatment damaged the crystalline region of chitosan nanofibers. The transmittance of the chitosan nanofiber slurry increased steeply, as the number of passes increased, indicating that the chitosan fibers were disintegrated effectively. Viscosity of chitosan nanofiber slurry also showed that the chitosan disintegrated well into nanofibers up to 10 passes. Above 10 passes, disintegration efficiency was saturated. The molecular weights of the nanofibers steeply decreased due to the depolymerization of chitosan by mechanical disintegration. The Young's modulus and tensile strength of chitosan nanofiber sheets were improved as the number of treatments increased, but further treatments deteriorated the tensile strength.