Effect of atmospheric pressure plasma jet treatment on the performance of needleless electrostatic spinning with low concentration of PCL solution

Abstract

PCL nanofibers were prepared by needle-free electrostatic spinning using atmospheric atmospheric pressure plasma to pretreat Polycaprolactone (PCL) electrostatic spinning solution. The results show that the conductivity and acidity of the plasma-treated polymer solution increase significantly, and the viscosity increases and then decreases. The untreated and treated solutions were then subjected to electrostatic spinning, and it was found by scanning electron microscopy that the solutions obtained after plasma treatment had fewer beads on the surface of the fibers, and the nanofibers were more uniformly distributed in diameter and finer. It was also found that the plasma treatment affected the size of the molecular chain segments of the PCL, and the crystal structure of the fibers was altered.The XPS results showed that the surface elements of the nanofibers do not change before and after the plasma treatment, and the chemical bonding between the carbon and oxygen elements is consistent.