Influences on mechanical properties of chitosan nanofibrous membranes induced by incorporating graphene oxide nanosheets

In this work, pure chitosan (CS) nanofibrous membranes were successfully fabricated by electrospinning using the mixed solvent of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and dichloromethane (DCM). The influences induced by both the ratio of TFA and DCM and the concentration of CS in the electrospinning solution were analyzed. In order to improve the mechanical properties of pure CS nanofibrous membranes, graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets were incorporated into the CS nanofibers. The results show that the incorporation of GO nanosheets into CS nanofibers significantly improved both the tensile strength and Young's modulus of CS nanofibrous membranes. When the content of GO was 0.8%, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of CS/GO nanofibrous membrane were enhanced approximate 2 and 3 times, respectively, compared with that of pure CS nanofibrous membranes. There resulst provide promising potential for CS/GO nanofibrous membranes in biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering, wound healing, and drug delivery.