Fabrication of Chitosan-Polyethylene Oxide Electrospun Nanofibrous Mats Containing Green Tea Extract

Novel electrospun nanofibrous CS-PEO nerve conduits containing 0, 2.5 and 5% of green tea methanolic extract were developed and characterized by FE-SEM, FT-IR, TGA/DSC as well as tensile strength analysis. The FE-SEM images revealed that all of the nanofibers had an average diameter of ∼80nm. The swelling degree was decreased by increasing the GT amount from 2.5 to 5% and this might be attributed to the enhanced interactions of the NH2, C(O)NH2 and OH groups of chitosan and PEO polymers with the OH groups of GT leading to a less hydrophilic mat surface, thus reducing the attraction by the aqueous medium. Moreover, the swelling was the highest in acidic medium but it was decreased in the neutral environment and it had the least value within the alkaline medium. The CS-PEO-5%GT exhibited the highest antibacterial activity among three samples examined against both S. aureus and E. coli microorganisms. The CS-PEO-5%GT was proved to be a very suitable candidate to be used as nerve conduit due to its improved tensile and antibacterial activities.