Recent Advances in Electrospinning of Some Selected Biopolymers

The growing need for materials suitable for sustainable development and improved healthcare has motivated scientists and engineers worldwide to investigate biopolymers. Success in this direction hinges on our ability to tailor properties of biopolymers and find cost effective processing methods. Authors applied a versatile nanofiber production technique known as electrospinning to process a variety of nanoassemblies with high specific volume and porosity from biocompatible, biodegradable and nontoxic natural biopolymers. These nanofibers and nanowebs with tailored physical, chemical, biological and mechanical properties are attractive for designing ecologically friendly products in a range of applications from personal care to healthcare such as hospital apparel, drug delivery systems, and scaffolds for tissue engineering and tissue regeneration. The present study reports on electrospinning of natural biopolymers chitosan and alginate and their blends with other biocompatible polymers. Several solvent systems and different processing conditions are investigated for effective electrospinning of biopolymers. Optimum processing conditions for producing desired electrospun nanowebs are discussed.