Electrospinning and characterization of konjac glucomannan/chitosan nanofibrous scaffolds favoring the growth of bone mesenchymal stem cells

Many natural polymers could not be electrospun from their aqueous solutions due to lack of organic solvents. In this study, konjac glucomannan (KGM) scaffolds with the average fiber diameter ranging from 150 nm to 350 nm were fabricated by electrospinning its aqueous solution. The stability of KGM based scaffolds was improved after alkali treatment at a low concentration without any other chemical crosslinking agents involved. Meanwhile, KGM/chitosan bicomponent nonwoven membranes were also easily obtained from their dilute acidic solution, and the average fiber diameter decreased from 350 nm to 180 nm with the increase in chitosan content. The study on the biological properties shows that the nanofibrous scaffolds provide more suitable space room for bone mesenchymal stem cells to adhere than the bulk films. Moreover, the addition of KGM improves the biocompatibility of chitosan materials.