Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-d8cs5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-11T07:08:48.019Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tuning surface texture of electrospun polycaprolactone fibers: Effects of solvent systems and relative humidity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2020

Murat Şimşek
Murat Şimşek*
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Inonu University, Malatya 44280, Turkey
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: murat.simsek@inonu.edu.tr
Get access

Abstract

In this study, the surface morphology of electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) fibers was investigated. PCL was dissolved in various solvent/nonsolvent systems (acetone/dimethylformamide (DMF), tetrahydrofuran (THF)/DMF, dichloromethane (DCM)/DMF, chloroform (CF)/DMF, acetone/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), THF/DMSO, DCM/DMSO, CF/DMSO) at a fixed ratio of 80/20 v/v. PCL solutions from these solvent systems were electrospun under varying high relative humidity (60–90%), and also room humidity. Characterization of fibers was evaluated by a scanning electron microscope, an atomic force microscope, water contact angle measurements, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method, and a strain–stress test. Results revealed that the surface texture of individual fibers changed with the presence of different types of pores and surface roughness depending on both humidity and solvent/nonsolvent properties. Miscibility with water was another factor to be taken into account for understanding mechanisms that contributed to the formation of surface defects. Fibrous materials having such a surface architecture, especially the porous ones, are potential candidates for various applications such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, catalysis, and filtration.

Keywords

surface topographyporous PCL fiberselectrospinninghumidity
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , 14 February 2020 , pp. 332 - 342
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Huang, Z-M., Zhang, Y.Z., Kotaki, M., and Ramakrishna, S.: A review on polymer nanofibers by electrospinning and their applications in nanocomposites. Compos. Sci. Technol. 63, 2223 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chew, S.Y., Wen, Y., Dzenis, Y., and Leong, K.W.: The role of electrospinning in the emerging field of nanomedicine. Curr. Pharm. Des. 12, 4751 (2006).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumbar, S.G., James, R., Nukavarapu, S.P., and Laurencin, C.T.: Electrospun nanofiber scaffolds: Engineering soft tissues. Biomed. Mater. 3, 034002 (2008).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sill, T.J. and von Recum, H.A.: Electrospinning: Applications in drug delivery and tissue engineering. Biomaterials 29, 1989 (2008).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Azimi, B., Nourpanah, P., Rabiee, M., and Arbab, S.: Poly(ε-caprolactone) fiber: An overview. J. Eng. Fibers Fabr. 9, 155892501400900309 (2014).Google Scholar
Zhang, J., Zheng, T., Alarçin, E., Byambaa, B., Guan, X., Ding, J., Zhang, Y.S., and Li, Z.: Porous electrospun fibers with self-sealing functionality: An enabling strategy for trapping. Biomacromolecules 13, 1701949 (2017).Google ScholarPubMed
Katsogiannis, K.A.G., Vladisavljević, G.T., and Georgiadou, S.: Porous electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) fibres by phase separation. Eur. Polym. J. 69, 284 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Senthamizhan, A., Balusamy, B., Celebioglu, A., and Uyar, T.: “Nanotraps” in porous electrospun fibers for effective removal of lead(II) in water. J. Mater. Chem. A 4, 2484 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soundararajan, A., Muralidhar R., J., Dhandapani, R., Radhakrishnan, J., Manigandan, A., Kalyanasundaram, S., Sethuraman, S., and Subramanian, A.: Surface topography of polylactic acid nanofibrous mats: Influence on blood compatibility. J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Med. 29, 145 (2018).Google ScholarPubMed
Wang, Y., Deng, J., Fan, R., Tong, A., Zhang, X., Zhou, L., Zheng, Y., Xu, J., and Guo, G.: Novel nanoscale topography on poly(propylene carbonate)/poly(ε-caprolactone) electrospun nanofibers modifies osteogenic capacity of ADCs. RSC Adv. 5, 82834 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, Y., Winn, S.R., Krajbich, I., and Hollinger, J.O.: Porous polymer scaffolds surface-modified with arginine–glycine–aspartic acid enhance bone cell attachment and differentiation in vitro. J. Biomed. Mater. Res., Part A 64, 583 (2003).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moroni, L., Licht, R., de Boer, J., de Wijn, J.R., and van Blitterswijk, C.A.: Fiber diameter and texture of electrospun PEOT/PBT scaffolds influence human mesenchymal stem cell proliferation and morphology, and the release of incorporated compounds. Biomaterials 27, 4911 (2006).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, G-M., Lach, R., Michler, G.H., and Chang, Y-W.: The mechanical deformation process of electrospun polymer nanocomposite fibers. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 26, 728 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casper, C.L., Stephens, J.S., Tassi, N.G., Chase, D.B., and Rabolt, J.F.: Controlling surface morphology of electrospun polystyrene fibers: Effect of humidity and molecular weight in the electrospinning process. Macromolecules 37, 573 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, Y., Lim, C.T., and Kotaki, M.: Study on structural and mechanical properties of porous PLA nanofibers electrospun by channel-based electrospinning system. Polymer 56, 572 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katsogiannis, K.A.G., Vladisavljević, G.T., and Georgiadou, S.: Porous electrospun polycaprolactone fibers: Effect of process parameters. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 54, 1878 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, L. and Hsieh, Y-L.: Nanoporous ultrahigh specific surface polyacrylonitrile fibres. Nanotechnology 17, 4416 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pant, H.R., Neupane, M.P., Pant, B., Panthi, G., Oh, H-J., Lee, M.H., and Kim, H.Y.: Fabrication of highly porous poly(ε-caprolactone) fibers for novel tissue scaffold via water-bath electrospinning. Colloids Surf., B 88, 587 (2011).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Srinivasarao, M., Collings, D., Philips, A., and Patel, S.: Three-dimensionally ordered array of air bubbles in a polymer film. Science 292, 79 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nguyen, T.H., Bao, T.Q., Park, I., and Lee, B.T.: A novel fibrous scaffold composed of electrospun porous poly(ε-caprolactone) fibers for bone tissue engineering. J. Biomater. Appl. 28, 514 (2013).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Medeiros, E.S., Mattoso, L.H.C., Offeman, R.D., Wood, D.F., and Orts, W.J.: Effect of relative humidity on the morphology of electrospun polymer fibers. Can. J. Chem. 86, 590 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yazgan, G., Dmitriev, R.I., Tyagi, V., Jenkins, J., Rotaru, G-M., Rottmar, M., Rossi, R.M., Toncelli, C., Papkovsky, D.B., Maniura-Weber, K., and Fortunato, G.: Steering surface topographies of electrospun fibers: Understanding the mechanisms. Sci. Rep. 7, 158 (2017).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lubasova, D. and Martinova, L.: Controlled morphology of porous polyvinyl butyral nanofibers. Journal of Nanomaterials 2011, 6 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qi, Z., Yu, H., Chen, Y., and Zhu, M.: Highly porous fibers prepared by electrospinning a ternary system of nonsolvent/solvent/poly(l-lactic acid). Mater. Lett. 63, 415 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luwang Laiva, A., Venugopal, J.R., Sridhar, S., Rangarajan, B., Navaneethan, B., and Ramakrishna, S.: Novel and simple methodology to fabricate porous and buckled fibrous structures for biomedical applications. Polymer 55, 5837 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, J.T., Kim, J.F., Wang, H.H., di Nicolo, E., Drioli, E., and Lee, Y.M.: Understanding the non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) effect during the fabrication of microporous PVDF membranes via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS). J. Membr. Sci. 514, 250 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, P-Y. and Tung, S-H.: One-step electrospinning to produce nonsolvent-induced macroporous fibers with ultrahigh oil adsorption capability. Macromolecules 50, 2528 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bormashenko, E.: Breath-figure self-assembly, a versatile method of manufacturing membranes and porous structures: Physical, chemical and technological aspects. Membranes 7, 45 (2017).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nezarati, R.M., Eifert, M.B., and Cosgriff-Hernandez, E.: Effects of humidity and solution viscosity on electrospun fiber morphology. Tissue Eng., Part C 19, 810 (2013).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Megelski, S., Stephens, J.S., Chase, D.B., and Rabolt, J.F.: Micro- and nanostructured surface morphology on electrospun polymer fibers. Macromolecules 35, 8456 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ucar, N., Kizildag, N., Onen, A., Karacan, I., and Eren, O.J.F.: Polymers: Polyacrylonitrile-polyaniline composite nanofiber webs: Effects of solvents, redoping process and dispersion technique. Fibers Polym. 16, 2223 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, P. and Xia, Y.: Maneuvering the internal porosity and surface morphology of electrospun polystyrene yarns by controlling the solvent and relative humidity. Langmuir 29, 7070 (2013).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lin, J., Ding, B., Yu, J., and Hsieh, Y.: Direct fabrication of highly nanoporous polystyrene fibers via electrospinning. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2, 521 (2010).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed