Electrospinning process has been widely used to produce nanofibers from polymer blends. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and chitosan (CS) have numerous biomedical applications such as wound healing and tissue engineering. Nanofibers of CS/PVA have been prepared by many works, however, a complete physicochemical and mechanical characterization as well as cell behavior has not been reported. In this study, PVA and CS/PVA blend solutions in acetic acid 70% with different volume ratios (30/70, 50/50, and 70/30) were electrospun in constant electrospinning process parameters. The structure and morphology of nanofibrous mats were characterized by SEM, FTIR, and XRD methods. The best nanofibrous mat was achieved from the CS/PVA 30/70 blend solution regarding the electrospinning throughput. The dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) of PVA and CS/PVA 30/70 nanofibrous mats were measured which were not considered in the previous studies. DMTA results in accordance to the DSC analysis approved the partial compatibility between the two polymers, while a single glass transition temperature was not observed for the blend. The tensile strength of PVA and CS/PVA nanofibers were also reported. Results of cell behavior study indicated that the heat stabilized nanofibrous mat CS/PVA 30/70 was able to support the attachment and proliferation of the fibroblast cells.

Chitosan/PVA/nanoclay nanocomposite nanofibers have been prepared successfully by electrospinning. Bead-free morphology was achieved for the nanofibrous mats and the nanoclays were incorporated and distributed uniformly inside the nanofibers.

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Nanofibrous core-sheath nanocomposite dual drug delivery system based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/chitosan/lidocaine hydrochloride loaded with gelatin nanoparticles were successfully prepared by the electrospinning method. Gelatin nanoparticles were prepared by nanoprecipitation and were then loaded with erythromycin antibiotic agent with the average particle size of ∼175 nm. The morphology of gelatin nanoparticles observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was shown to be optimal at the concentration of 1.25 wt % of gelatin in aqueous phase by addition of 20 µL of glutaraldehyde 5% as the crosslinking agent. The nanoparticles were also characterized by dynamic light scattering, zeta potential measurement, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The best bead free morphology for the PVA/chitosan nanofibrous mats were obtained at the solution weight ratio of 96/4. The nanofibrous mats were analyzed by swelling studies, FTIR and antibacterial tests. In vitro dual release profile of the core-sheath nanofibers was also studied within 72 h and showed the release efficiency equal to 84.69 and 75.13% for lidocaine hydrochloride and erythromycin, respectively. According to release exponent n, the release of lidocaine hydrochloride from the sheath part of the matrix is quasi-Fickian diffusion mechanism, while the release of erythromycin is based on anomalous or non-Fickian mechanisms.

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