Fabrication of Polycaprolactone-Cellulose Acetate Hybrid Electrospun Fiber Blends

Abstract

Series of Poly(c-caprolactone) (PCL)/Cellulose Acetate(CA) hybrid electrospun fibers mats (EFMs) were prepared via electrospinning process. The EFMs were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), field emission-Scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and water contact angle (WCA) measurements. XPS analysis revealed that the carbon content (%) was gradually decreased and the oxygen content (%) was enhanced steadily with the increasing composition of the CA present in the PCL/CA hybrid EFMs. Better thermal stability of the PCL/CA hybrid EFMs was found in comparison to the neat PCL EFM and the neat CA EFM, as revealed by TGA analysis. The fiber morphology under FE-SEM showed that the surface of EFMs were smooth and beadless. The WCA results revealed that EFMs were hydrophobic. The PCL/CA hybrid EFMs may be used as scaffold in tissue engineering and in other biomaterials where low wetting properties are required.