Atmospheric Pressure Non-Equilibrium Plasma as a Green Tool to Crosslink Gelatin Nanofibers

Electrospun gelatin nanofibers attract great interest as a natural biomaterial for cartilage and tendon repair despite their high solubility in aqueous solution, which makes them also difficult to crosslink by means of chemical agents. In this work, we explore the efficiency of non-equilibrium atmos...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2016-12, Vol.6 (1), p.38542-38542, Article 38542
Main Authors: Liguori, Anna, Bigi, Adriana, Colombo, Vittorio, Focarete, Maria Letizia, Gherardi, Matteo, Gualandi, Chiara, Oleari, Maria Chiara, Panzavolta, Silvia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/166/985
639/301/54/990
Aqueous solutions
Atmospheric pressure
Biomaterials
Cartilage
Chemical agents
Gelatin
Genipin
Humanities and Social Sciences
Immersion
Mechanical properties
multidisciplinary
Science
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Summary:Electrospun gelatin nanofibers attract great interest as a natural biomaterial for cartilage and tendon repair despite their high solubility in aqueous solution, which makes them also difficult to crosslink by means of chemical agents. In this work, we explore the efficiency of non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma in stabilizing gelatin nanofibers. We demonstrate that plasma represents an innovative, easy and environmentally friendly approach to successfully crosslink gelatin electrospun mats directly in the solid state. Plasma treated gelatin mats display increased structural stability and excellent retention of fibrous morphology after immersion in aqueous solution. This method can be successfully applied to induce crosslinking both in pure gelatin and genipin-containing gelatin electrospun nanofibers, the latter requiring an even shorter plasma exposure time. A complete characterization of the crosslinked nanofibres, including mechanical properties, morphological observations, stability in physiological solution and structural modifications, has been carried out in order to get insights on the occurring reactions triggered by plasma.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep38542