Abstract:

Chitosan is a nontoxic, antibacterial, biocompatible and biodegradable biopolymer which is widely used for biomedical applications, separation membranes and others. In recent years, electrospinning has been found to be a novel technique to produce chitosan nanofibers. The nanofibers containing chitosan or its derivatives show wide applications due to their high surface area and porosity. This article summarizes the preparations and properties of the nanofibers produced by electrospinning of pure chitosan, hybrids of chitosan and synthetic polymers, hybrids of chitosan and proteins, chitosan derivatives, hybrids of chitosan and inorganic nanoparticles, respectively. The applications of some of the nanofibers are briefly described.

Key words: Chitosan, Chitosan derivatives, nanofibers, electrospinning