Recent Developments in Chitosan-Based Micro/Nanofibers for Sustainable Food Packaging, Smart Textiles, Cosmeceuticals, and Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Chitosan has many useful intrinsic properties (e.g., non-toxicity, antibacterial properties, and biodegradability) and can be processed into high-surface-area nanofiber constructs for a broad range of sustainable research and commercial applications. These nanofibers can be further functionalized with bioactive agents. In the food industry, for example, edible films can be formed from chitosan-based composite fibers filled with nanoparticles, exhibiting excellent antioxidant and antimicrobial properties for a variety of products. Processing ‘pure’ chitosan into nanofibers can be challenging due to its cationic nature and high crystallinity; therefore, chitosan is often modified or blended with other materials to improve its processability and tailor its performance to specific needs. Chitosan can be blended with a variety of natural and synthetic polymers and processed into fibers while maintaining many of its intrinsic properties that are important for textile, cosmeceutical, and biomedical applications. The abundance of amine groups in the chemical structure of chitosan allows for facile modification (e.g., into soluble derivatives) and the binding of negatively charged domains. In particular, high-surface-area chitosan nanofibers are effective in binding negatively charged biomolecules. Recent developments of chitosan-based nanofibers with biological activities for various applications in biomedical, food packaging, and textiles are discussed herein.

Electrospinning of Chitosan for Antibacterial Applications—Current Trends

“…The N-amino-D-glucosamine/ N-acetyl-D-glucosamine ratio, called the degree of deacetylation (DDA), is a key indication that distinguishes chitosan from chitin, resulting in chitosan's unique characteristics. However, during the deacetylation process, acetyl groups are eliminated, influencing the molecular weight (Mw) that must be considered when electrospinning a chitosan-based solution [93]. Several parameters, such as the voltage, flow rate, distance between electrodes, ambient temperature and humidity, electrospinning solution properties, pH, viscosity, molecular weight, and mixing ratios of polymers and solvents play crucial roles in the final nanofibers [94][95][96][97][98].…”

Biomedical applications of chitosan-graphene oxide nanocomposites

“…CS is readily available because chitin widely exists in the exoskeleton of crustaceans and cephalopods ( Peers et al., 2020 ; Rinaudo, 2006 ). With excellent physicochemical characteristics and biological properties like stimulus responsiveness, biocompatibility, biodegradability, antibacterial activity, readily film and hydrogel-forming capability, oxygen impermeability ( Ahmed et al., 2020 ), CS has extensive use in drug delivery ( Gooneh-Farahani et al., 2019 ), tissue engineering and regenerative medicine ( Croisier and Jérôme, 2013 ), wound healing ( Tylman et al., 2018 ), food industries ( Paiva et al., 2020 ; Tien et al., 2021 ) and water filtration and purification ( Croitoru et al., 2020 ; Jin et al., 2021 ), etc . Importantly, thanks to abundant amino and hydroxyl active groups on CS main chain, it is easy to modify CS through a variety of interactions such as covalent bonding, hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic interactions, thus conquering its defects of poor mechanical property and solubility ( Croisier and Jérôme, 2013 ).…”

State-of-the-art review of advanced electrospun nanofiber yarn-based textiles for biomedical applications

“…For wearable bioelectronic applications, the large fiber diameters of conventional microfibers negatively affect the device miniaturization, the weight, and the performance [17] . Therefore, reducing the fiber diameter of yarns for textile use is greatly required to improve the structures and properties of conventional microfibrous biotextiles [ [18] , [19] , [20] ].…”