Co-electrospun poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/cellulose nanofibers-fabrication and characterization. (22nd January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ahmed, Farooq; Saleemi, Sidra; Khatri, Zeeshan; Abro, Muhammad Ishaque; Kim, Ick-Soo
• Is Part Of: Carbohydrate polymers. Volume 115(2015)
• Page Start: 388
• Page End: 393
• Publication Date: 2015-01-22
• Subjects: Poly(ɛ-caprolactone) -- Cellulose nanofiber -- Co-electrospinning -- Wicking rate -- PCL/CEL; Polysaccharides -- Periodicals; Polysaccharides -- Periodicals; Polysaccharides -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 547.78
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.09.002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0144-8617

Abstract

Highlights: We fabricate poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/cellulose nanofiber via co-electrospinning. Different blend ratios of PCL/CEL nanofibers were fabricated and characterized. Wicking behavior of each resultant nanofibers is studied and compared. Increasing CEL ratio in PCL/CEL blends enhanced wicking front height. Proposed materiala may be used as biofilters and biosensor strips. Abstract: We report fabrication of poly (ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL)/cellulose (CEL) nanofiber blends via co-electrospinning for the possible use as biofilters and biosensor strips. Five different ratios of PCL to CEL were fabricated to investigate the wicking behavior. The cellulose acetate (CA) was taken as precursor to make cellulose nanofibers. Double nozzles were employed for jetting constituent polymers toward collector drum independently and resultant nanofibers webs were deacetylated in aqueous alkaline solution to convert CA into CEL as confirmed by FTIR spectra. FTIR further revealed that there is no effect of deacetylation on PCL nanofiber. The morphology of each blend webs under SEM showed uniform and bead-free nanofibers. Wicking behavior for five different ratios of PCL/CEL suggested that increasing CEL ratio in the blend enhanced the wicking front height; however, X-ray diffraction patterns of PCL/CEL showed a slight decrease in crystallinity.