Electrospinning pectin-based nanofibers: a parametric and cross-linker study

Abstract

Pectin, a natural biopolymer mainly derived from citrus fruits and apple peels, shows excellent biodegradable and biocompatible properties. This study investigated the electrospinning of pectin-based nanofibers. The parameters, pectin:PEO (polyethylene oxide) ratio, surfactant concentration, voltage, and flow rate, were studied to optimize the electrospinning process for generating the pectin-based nanofibers. Oligochitosan, as a novel and nonionic cross-liker of pectin, was also researched. Nanofibers were characterized by using AFM, SEM, and FTIR spectroscopy. The results showed that oligochitosan was preferred over Ca 2+ because it cross-linked pectin molecules without negatively affecting the nanofiber morphology. Moreover, oligochitosan treatment produced a positive surface charge of nanofibers, determined by zeta potential measurement, which is desired for tissue engineering applications.

Preparation and Characterization of Electrospun Pectin-Based Films and Their Application in Sustainable Aroma Barrier Multilayer Packaging

“…However, aqueous solutions of neat pectin cannot be electrospun due to the limited viscoelasticity of pectin and its insufficient chain entanglements [37][38][39]. As a result, electrospun pectin nanofibers have been only obtained by blending with different synthetic polymers such as polyethylene oxide (PEO) [39][40][41][42][43][44][45], polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) [46][47][48], and pullulan [38]. In addition, ternary blends of alginate/pectin/PEO [49] and chitosan/pectin/PVOH [50] have been recently successfully electrospun for biomedical purposes.…”

“…The few studies reporting the development of electrospun pectin-based nanofibers have been mainly focused on the areas of antibacterial surfaces [48], tissue engineering [40][41][42]50], drug delivery [44], and encapsulation [38,49], whereas their utilization for food packaging applications remains unexplored due to the inherent discontinuity and porous structure of the nanofibers mats. Interestingly, electrospun mats can be subjected to a thermal post-treatment above the glass transition (T g ) and below the melting temperature (T m ) of the polymer, also termed annealing, in order to remove or minimize their porosity and produce continuous and homogenous films [51][52][53][54][55].…”

Formation Mechanism Analysis of Shear‐Induced Microgel Filaments during Microfluidic Gelation

“…[ 7,8 ] For example, electrospinning of polymers possessing a rigid structure such as NaAlg often requires the additives to cleave the inter‐ and intra‐hydrogen bonds in the surfactants or hydrophilic polymers. [ 9,10 ]…”

Carbohydrate‐based nanomaterials for biomedical applications

“…Relevant examples are micelles based on self‐assembling chitosan cross‐linked pectin–doxorubicin conjugates (Z.‐P. Li, Jiang, et al, ), pectin‐chitosan membrane scaffolds for the controlled stem cell adhesion and proliferation (J. G. Martins et al, ), and electrospun pectin‐oligochitosan nanofibers for tissue engineering (McCune et al, ).…”