Chitosan‐coated poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibers for wound dressings.
A PVA nanofibrous matrix was prepared by electrospinning an aqueous 10 wt % PVA solution. The mean diameter of the PVA nanofibers electrospun from the PVA aqueous solution was 240 nm. The water resistance of the as‐spun PVA nanofibrous matrix was improved by physically crosslinking the PVA nanofibers by heat treatment at 150°C for 10 min, which were found to be the optimal heat treatment conditions determined from chemical and morphological considerations. In addition, the heat‐treated PVA (H‐PVA) nanofibrous matrix was coated with a chitosan solution to construct biomimetic nanofibrous wound dressings. The chitosan‐coated PVA (C‐PVA) nanofibrous matrix showed less hydrophilic and better tensile properties than the H‐PVA nanofibrous matrix. The effect of the chitosan coating on open wound healing in a mouse was examined. The C‐PVA and H‐PVA nanofibrous matrices showed faster wound healing than the control. The histological examination and mechanical stability revealed the C‐PVA nanofibrous matrix to be more effective as a wound‐healing accelerator in the early stages of wound healing than the H‐PVA nanofibrous matrix. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2010
1552-4973
Academic Journal
10.1002/jbm.b.31554