Preparation and characterization of sodium alginate/PEO and sodium alginate/PVA nanofiber

Alginate obtained from marine brown algae, is a copolymer with repeating units of alpha-(1 -> 4)-L-guluronic acid(G) and beta-(1 -> 4)-D-mannuronic acid(M). It has good properties such as biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and hydrophilicity. However, alginate alone cannot be electrospun due to high viscosity and conductivity. To solve this problem, electrospinning of sodium alginate(SA) was performed by blending with poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) in this study. Characteristics of SA/PEO nanofibers and SA/PVA nanofibers were estimated by SEM and XRD analyses. Optimal nanofiber webs are obtained from 2/2 wt% of SA/PEO and 2/7 wt% of SA/PVA. SA/PEO and SA/PVA nanofiber webs may have potentials for tissue engineering scaffold and wound dressing.