Preparation of egg white protein/polyethylene oxide nanofibers by electrospinning

In this study, egg albumin and polyethylene oxide (PEO) were mixed to prepare nanofibers by electrospinning using deionized water as solvent. The morphology of egg albumin/PEO nanofibers was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects of solution mass fraction and spinning parameters on the morphology of egg albumin/PEO fibers were investigated. The elemental composition of the fibers was characterized by elemental analysis. The results showed that the spinnability of the fibers was the best under the conditions of 25kV spinning voltage, 16cm spinning distance and 0.2mL/h extrusion speed. The fibers with an average diameter of 389nm were prepared and 11.02% of the nanofibers were nitrogen, which indicated that the protein in the egg white was successfully converted into nanofibers. Egg albumin had the advantages of bio-friendliness, biodegradability and wide sources. The successful realization of green manufacturing of egg albumin nanofibers provided a basis for its application in biomedicine, battery catalysis and other fields. © 2019, Chemical Industry Press. All right reserved.