19- Morphological, Structural, and Mechanical Properties of Chitosan/ Nanocrystalline Cellulose/ Polylactic Acid Nanofibers Fabricated by Electrospinning

Nanofibers are fibers having sizes in the nanometer range with outstanding characteristics that make them suitable to be used in a wide range of applications. In this research Chitosan (Cs)/ Nanocrystalline Cellulose (NCC)/Polylactic acid (PLA) blended nanofibers were successfully prepared by the needle electrospinning process. Preparation of Chitosan/NCC/PLA blended nanofibers was tested using the fully deacetylated chitosan of the average molecular weights; 30 kDa, 15 kDa, and 7.5 kDa. The lower molecular weights of chitosan 7.5kDa and 15kDa were able to produce nanofibers with optimum characteristics compared with Cs 30kDa. In regard to the addition of nanocrystalline cellulose into chitosan and PLA, results showed that the presence of nanocrystalline cellulose in chitosan /PLA nanofibers resulted in the formation of highly regular morpghology and homogeneously distributed nanofibers . The produced nanofibers were characterized for their structure, thermal properties, surface morphology, fiber diameter, as well as, mechanical properties. Results showed that the produced nanofibers are characterized with improved structural, thermal, and mechanical properties. These characteristics make the nanofibers of good potential to be used in different applications.