Mechanical characterization of electrospun gelatin scaffolds cross-linked by glucose

J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2015 Jan;26(1):5375. doi: 10.1007/s10856-014-5375-1. Epub 2015 Jan 13.

Abstract

Nanofibrous gelatin scaffolds were prepared by electrospinning from aqueous acetic acid and cross-linked thermally by glucose. The effect of the amount of glucose used as cross-linking agent on the mechanical properties of gelatin fibres was studied in this paper. The elastic modulus of gelatin fibres cross-linked by glucose was determined by modelling the behaviour of the meshes during tensile test. The model draws connections between the elastic moduli of a fibrous mesh and the fibre material and allows evaluation of elastic modulus of the fibre material. It was found that cross-linking by glucose increases the elastic modulus of gelatin fibres from 0.3 GPa at 0 % glucose content to 1.1 GPa at 15 % glucose content. This makes fibrous gelatin scaffolds cross-linked by glucose a promising material for biomedical applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biocompatible Materials / chemistry*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Cross-Linking Reagents / chemistry*
  • Elastic Modulus
  • Gelatin / chemistry*
  • Glucose / chemistry*
  • Hot Temperature
  • Materials Testing
  • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
  • Nanofibers
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Pressure
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
  • Stress, Mechanical
  • Tensile Strength
  • Tissue Engineering
  • Tissue Scaffolds

Substances

  • Biocompatible Materials
  • Cross-Linking Reagents
  • Gelatin
  • Glucose