Study on wettability, mechanical property and biocompatibility of electrospun gelatin/zein nanofibers cross-linked by glucose

In this study, the gelatin/zein nanofibers were electrospun and then cross-linked by glucose via Maillard reaction. The morphology observations showed that the average diameter of the cross-linked gelatin/zein nanofibers decreased with the increasing weight ratio of zein. FTIR results indicated that gelatin and zein molecules were homogenously dispersed within the fibers, and the Maillard reaction occurred between the proteins and glucose. The addition of zein affected the mobility of the gelatin chains, leading to the decreased denaturation temperature. The cross-linked fibers with a 1:1 gelatin/zein ratio showed the most hydrophobic surface (water contact angle of 134°), and comparable mechanical properties to the cross-linked gelatin nanofibers, while a higher ratio of zein (more than 50%) resulted in the decreased elastic modulus. The L929 cell cytotoxicity test suggested that the cross-linked gelatin/zein nanofibers exhibited good biocompatibility and non-cytotoxicity.