Fabrication of poly(vinyl acetate)/polysaccharide biocomposite nanofibrous membranes for tissue engineering

To develop a new potential scaffold, biocomposite nanofibrous membranes composed of poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc)/polysaccharide were prepared using an electrospinning process. The resulting nanofibrous membranes exhibited a fully interconnected pore structure and their average diameter was influenced by a change of conductivity and viscosity of the electrospinning solutions due to the addition of polysaccharides. According to the X-ray diffraction (XRD) results, the crystalline phase of PVAc was hardly affected by the addition of polysaccharides. However, the mechanical properties were markedly changed by the addition of polysaccharides. In addition, the water contact angle and zeta potential were slightly affected by the use of polysaccharides. Cytocompatibility results showed that cell attachment improved by the addition of chitosan, while cell proliferation enormously increased by blending pullulan. Therefore, PVAc/polysaccharide biocomposite nanofibrous membranes appear to be promising biomaterials for tissue engineering.