Study And Preperation Of Poly (Vinyl Alcohol)/Collagen Composite Fiber

Collagen is the major structural fibrous protein in animals where it provides the principal structural and mechanical support. It is well known that the ordered triple helical structure of collagen is stabilized by both interchain hydrogen bonds and 'structural' water molecules. But from the point of application, the use of plain native collagen as materials is often precluded by inadequate physical-chemical and mechanical properties. To overcome this problem, a polymer blend is the best choice if both components are compatible. Poly(vinyl alcohol) is an interesting water-soluble synthetic polymer with a broad range of applications and recognized biocompatibility. The combination of PVA and collagen is unique in that both polymers are usually dissolved and coagulated under similar conditions. Furthermore, because of high tensile strength and modulus of PVA fiber, we could expect the obtained collagen/PVA composite fiber would show excellent mechanical properties and physical-chemical stabilities.In this paper, a poly(vinyl alcohol)/collagen composite fiber could be produced from a solution containing dissolved collagen and poly(vinyl alcohol) via composite spinning. The spinnability, mechanical properties and structure of the composite fiber were studied. The results showed that the spinning solution of poly(vinyl alcohol) and collagen showed good spinnability while composite spinning.The rheological behaviour and formulations of spinning dope were examined in order to get an optimal spinning solution. Thus, obtained initial fiber had strength 1.21cN/dt, modulus 36.2 cN/dt, elongation 27.1% and crystallinity...