Gelatin nanofibers prepared by spiral-electrospinning and cross-linked by vapor and liquid-phase glutaraldehyde

• The spiral-electrospinning technique was used for massive production of gelation nanofibers.
• The productivity was about 100 g/h.
• A comparative study between glutaraldehyde vapor phase cross-linking and liquid cross-linking was carried out.
• The analysis showed the nanofiber membrane obtained by glutaraldehyde liquid phase cross-linking had better properties.

The aim of this study was to mass-produce gelatin nanofibers by spiral-electrospinning and investigate the performance of different cross-linking methods such as glutaraldehyde vapor and liquid phase cross-linking. Compared with conventional single-needle electrospinning, nanofibers produced by spiral-electrospinning were finer and an enhancement of more than 1000 times over the traditionally obtained nanofibers productivity was obtained. The mechanical testing showed the tensile strength of nanofiber membranes increased from 1.33 to 2.60 MPa after glutaraldehyde vapor cross-linking and from 1.33 to 5.08 MPa after liquid phase cross-linking. Moreover, SEM and FTIR analysis indicated the nanofiber membrane obtained by liquid phase cross-linking had better properties and was an ideal material for wound dressing applications.