Electrospinning of PCL/natural rubber blends

Abstract

In this study, a thermoplastic/elastomeric binary blend of non-vulcanized natural rubber (NR) and polycaprolactone (PCL) was electrospun using polymer solutions consisting of varying proportions of PCL and NR. Specifically, an 8 % (w/v) NR/toluene solution was mixed with an 8 % (w/v) PCL/chloroform solution at proportions of 2, 15, 30, and 50 % (v/v). The morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties of the electrospun mats were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry, and uniaxial tensile tests. The SEM images demonstrated the production of micrometer- and sub-micrometer-sized fibers with no bead formation. Fibers with diameters ranging from 1.3 μm for samples with 0 % NR to 210 nm for samples containing 50 % NR were observed. Fibers with rough and smooth morphologies were observed, showing that the PCL/NR mats had phase-separated. The blend miscibility was evaluated by thermal analysis, which showed that blending did not improve the thermal stability of the systems. An investigation of the mechanical properties of the electrospun mats showed that adding NRL to the blend increased the tensile modulus, the ultimate elasticity, and the strain. Thus, non-vulcanized NR was successfully incorporated into electrospun mats, which exhibited useful mechanical properties that could be harnessed in biomaterials applications.