Electrospinning of hexanoyl chitosan

Ultrafine hexanoyl chitosan (H-chitosan) fibers were successfully prepared by electrospinning of hexanoyl chitosan solutions in chloroform. The concentration of the spinning solutions was between 4% and 14% w/v. The as-spun fibers appeared to be flat with ribbon-like morphology and exhibited average diameters in the range of 0.64-3.93 mu m. With increasing H-chitosan concentration, the average fiber diameter was found to increase, while the bead density was found to decrease. An increase in the applied electrical potential was responsible for increasing the average diameter of the as-spun fibers. Finally, the addition of an organic salt, pyridinium formate, helped increase the conductivity of the spinning solution, which resulted in a general increase in the average diameter and a general decrease in the bead density of the resulting H-chitosan fibers. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.