Fabrication of Polyurethane/Chitosan Electrospun Vascular Graft Using Rotating Collector at Different Applied Voltages and Rotation Speeds

Commercialized synthetic vascular grafts that aid in restoring the normal function of blood vessels have high occurrence of thrombosis. To fill this research void, a composite vascular graft comprised of natural chitosan (CS) and synthetic biodegradable polyurethane (PU) was fabricated utilizing electrospinning at varying applied voltages and rotation speeds of the rotating collector. Blended PU and CS was electrospun at 10 and 11 kV with a rotation speed of 100 rpm. The electrospinning at 12 kV was also conducted at rotation speeds of 0, 50, 100, and 150 rpm. Upon the voltage increment, the electrostatic repulsive force influenced the reduction in the fiber diameter. Blending of CS and increasing the rotation speed further reduced the fiber diameter. Similar chemical bonds owned by PU were annotated on the PU and PU/CS electrospun grafts. The water contact angle measurements showed hydrophobicity reduction upon applied voltage increment. The data inferred the PU/CS which was electrospun at 11 kV and 100 rpm, demonstrated its potential to be implemented as vascular graft due to its excellent fiber morphology and hydrophilicity.