The Effect of Poly (Glycerol Sebacate) Incorporation within Hybrid Chitin–Lignin Sol–Gel Nanofibrous Scaffolds

Abstract

Chitin and lignin primarily accumulate as bio-waste resulting from byproducts of crustacean crusts and plant biomass. Recently, their use has been proposed for diverse and unique bioengineering applications, amongst others. However, their weak mechanical properties need to be improved in order to facilitate their industrial utilization. In this paper, we fabricated hybrid fibers composed of a chitin–lignin (CL)-based sol–gel mixture and elastomeric poly (glycerol sebacate) (PGS) using a standard electrospinning approach. Obtained results showed that PGS could be coherently blended with the sol–gel mixture to form a nanofibrous scaffold exhibiting remarkable mechanical performance and improved antibacterial and antifungal activity. The developed hybrid fibers showed promising potential in advanced biomedical applications such as wound care products. Ultimately, recycling these sustainable biopolymers and other bio-wastes alike could propel a “greener” economy.

Sustainable drug release from polycaprolactone coated chitin-lignin gel fibrous scaffolds

“…Natural polymers such as chitin and lignin are widely available from food and agricultural by-products that can be made into gels 21,22 . Among them, chitin is a polysaccharide consisted of a long chain N-acetylglucosamine 23,24 .…”

Electrospun Nano-Fibers for Biomedical and Tissue Engineering Applications: A Comprehensive Review

“…Nowadays, nano-fiber technology advances permit the fabrication of nano-fibers from a wide range of materials including natural and synthetic polymers [200][201][202][203][204][205][206][207][208][209][210][211][212][213], ceramics, metals, as well as inorganic/inorganic or organic/inorganic composite systems [214][215][216][217][218][219][220]. A unique combination of properties such as the conductivity of metallic dopants accompanied by the flexibility of polymers can be obtained by a combination of various materials.…”

Oxygen-Releasing Antibacterial Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications

“…Poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) is a biocompatible elastomeric polyester which has superior surface degradation, faster degradation rate and lower inflammatory responses as compared to other synthetic biopolymers [30][31][32]. However, electrospinning of PGS alone is challenging, and it needs to be performed with a carrier polymer [30,33,34]. On the other hand, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is an FDA-approved, biocompatible and flexible aliphatic polyester that can be easily electrospun to form uniform fibrous structure.…”

“…Additionally, PCL undergoes a slow degradation process, and once combined with PGS the degradation rate can be tuned by adjusting their ratio in the blend. We previously designed different types of electrospun PGS/PCL nanofibrous platforms [ 30 , 33 , 34 ] and demonstrated their potential in wound dressing [ 35 ], electronic medical device [ 33 , 36 ] and on-demand drug-delivery application [ 32 ]. In the current study, we fabricated oxygen-releasing PGS/PCL composite scaffolds by incorporating ball-milled CP nanoparticles into the polymer matrix during electrospinning ( Figure 1 ).…”