Synthesis and optimized electrospinning of oxidized carboxymethyl cellulose

Cellulose is the most abundant natural biopolymer, which is already being used in many industrial fields. It can be modified using several chemical reactions such as oxidation, esterification, and etherification. Recently, water-soluble oxidized cellulose has attracted researchers’ attention because of its excellent biomedical properties. Moreover, researchers are interested in loading drugs and active agents into oxidized cellulose for drug delivery applications. Therefore, introducing a structure that answers this need is essential. Nanofiber structures have become popular due to their versatility. Therefore, this article aims to synthesize oxidized carboxymethyl cellulose (OCMC) and optimize its electrospinning parameters. In this study, OCMC was electrospun with poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) at different concentrations (5-15% w/v). Results showed that the optimal condition is the electrospinning of 15% PVA/OCMC at 20 kV electric voltage, 0.9 ml/hour feeding rate, and 15 cm needle to collector distance. The produced samples were characterized using FTIR, XRD, and SEM techniques.