Reinforcing antibacterial hydrogels through electrospun nanofiber layers for soft tissue engineering
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Reinforcing antibacterial hydrogels through electrospun nanofiber layers for soft tissue engineering Waseem S. Khan1 · Suhasini Pyarasani2 · Ramazan Asmatulu2 Received: 3 August 2020 / Accepted: 17 November 2020 © The Polymer Society, Taipei 2020
Abstract Hydrogels are polymeric substances with hydrophilic features, which make them capable of holding large volume of liquids in their three-dimensional network structures. Hydrogels are finding wide ranges of applications in several biomedical, industrial, and environmental fields. In this study, hydrogels were prepared using chitosan powders, and reinforced with electrospun poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly vinyl chloride (PVC) nanofibers. The chitosan hydrogels were produced by dissolving chitosan in 1% acetic acid solution and mixing thoroughly. Gentamycin, an antibacterial agent, was also added to further increase the effectiveness of hydrogels for biomedical purposes. The prepared hydrogels were subjected to swelling, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and compression tests. The test results showed that hydrogel provided very high-water absorption capacity (10–11 folds). FTIR studies conducted on the hydrogel samples with different percentages of inclusions revealed that some of the compounds were covalently bonded in the structures, which directly affect the mechanical strength and liquid absorption capacity. The compression tests performed at different loads indicated that PVC and PMMA nanofibers reinforced hydrogels provided up to 75% much higher compression strengths when compared to the base-case (without any reinforcement). Keywords Antibacterial hydrogels · Electrospun nanofibers · Reinforcement · Mechanical strength · Soft tissue engineering
Introduction Hydrogels are polymeric networks excessively swollen with liquids due to their hydrophilic features, which make them capable of holding a larger volume of liquids for a longer period of time [1, 2]. Hydrogels are mainly cross-linked structures produced by a simple reaction of one or more monomers. They retained liquid within their structure and do not dissolve in water and some other liquids. Hydrogels have been receiving tremendous attention because of their exceptional properties and finding wide range of applications in biomedical, pharmaceutical, food and agricultural fields [3–6]. These soft polymers can carry molecules, * Ramazan Asmatulu [email protected] Waseem S. Khan [email protected] 1
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Fujairah Men’s College, Fujairah, UAE
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, KS 67260–0133 Wichita, USA
2
drugs, proteins and necessary components for cell growth and differentiation. They can also be used to localize drugs, increase drug concentration at the site of action and reduce off-target side effects [7]. The absorption of water in hydrogel is due to its functional groups, such as amine (NH2), hydroxyl [-OH], amide (-CONH-, -CONH2) and sulphate (-SO3 H
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