Open Access

ARTICLE

Influence of the Processing Parameters on the Electrospinning of Biopolymeric Fibers

Alicia Mujica-Garcia^1,2, Iván Navarro-Baena¹, José Maria Kenny^1,2, Laura Peponi^2,*

1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Terni, Italy
2 Institute of Polymer Science and Technology, ICTP, of the Spanish Council for Scientifi c Research, CSIC, Madrid, Spain

* Corresponding Author:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2014, 2(1), 23-34. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2013.634130

Received 16 December 2013; Accepted 02 February 2014;

Abstract

The main aim of this research is the production of different biopolymeric fi bers by electrospinning and the determination of the optimum working parameters for each polymer analyzed. In particular, three different biopolymers have been studied: poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and a synthesized poly(ester-urethane) based on a synthesized PLA-b-PCL-b-PLA tri-block copolymer. This research is focused on the analysis of the infl uence of the processing parameters, such as the concentration and fl ow-rate of the polymer solution and the applied voltage, as well as the physico-chemical properties of the polymers used, on the fi ber formation and crystallization behavior. Therefore, the optimum working conditions for each polymer were determined and related to the fi nal properties of the electrospun fi bers in terms of geometry, homogeneous morphology and crystallinity.

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Keywords

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