Characterization of gelatin nanofibers electrospun using ethanol/formic acid/water as a solvent

Gelatin nanofibers were prepared via electrospinning using aqueous solutions of formic acid and ethanol as the solvent instead of cytotoxic solvents. The resulting mat was further crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GTA). The influence of the storing time on the viscosity and gel point of the solution was investigated. The gelatin nanofibers were examined using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) for the fiber size and morphology. The lowest diameter of gelatin fiber (85 nm, without beads) was achieved when the gelatin concentration was 20 wt% and electrospinning was conducted with a voltage of 20 kV over a distance of 10 cm at ambient temperature. The results from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that the softening temperature of gelatin nanofibers crosslinked with GTA was elevated. In addition, GTA-crosslinked gelatin nanofibers exhibited cell compatibility for mouse mesangial cells (CRL 1927). Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.