Hydrolyzed collagen on PVA-based electrospun membranes: Synthesis and characterization

Physicochemical, structural, and thermal properties of electrospun membranes depend on process conditions and the type and concentration of the raw materials used to produce them. In this work, the electrospinning technique (ES) is used to synthesize membranes with hydrolyzed collagen (HC) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) at two different distances. The characterization of these membranes is then carried out by X-Ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, water vapor permeability (WVP), microscopy techniques, and porosity measurements. Results show that the morphology of the ES membranes depends mainly on the polymer/solvent system's physicochemical properties and the distance to the collector. Thicker samples (68-86 mu m) are formed when using the furthest distance (10 cm), having fiber diameters smaller than 1 mu m, porosity percentages up to 90%, and WVP values close to or in the recommended range for wound dressing commercial products. Moreover, the presence of HC results in samples with a less crystalline structure. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in which PVA and HC membranes are successfully synthesized by electrospinning and physicochemically characterized.