Measurement of Viscosity of Electrospun Chitosan/Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Membranes by Rotating Viscometer Method (CAT#: STEM-PPA-0035-YJL)

Introduction

Recently, electrospinning, or called electrostatic spinning, has emerged as an efficient technique for preparation of ultrafine fibers with diameters ranging from several nanometers to several microns. It has been widely accepted as the simplest and least expensive method to fabricate nanofibers or nanofibrous membranes from a variety of synthetic or natural polymers. The electrospun non-woven membranes exhibit high surface area and porosity. Thus, they may have potential applications such as tissue engineering scaffolds, wound dressings, composite reinforcements, protective clothings, and filters.
Chitosan, a copolymer of glucosamine and N-acetyglucosamine units linked by 1–4 glucosidic bonds, is a cationic polysaccharide obtained by alkaline deacetylation of chitin. PVA is a water-soluble polymer with semi-crystalline molecular structure. It shows good properties, such as nontoxicity and chemical stability. The electrospinning phenomenon itself involves basic and significant issues in polymer solutions, in which viscosity, surface tension, and conductivity are the critical factors for the successful preparation of nanofibers by electrospinning.