Electrospun Cellulose Acetate Nanofiber Morphology and Property Derived from CaCl2-Formic Acid Solvent System

Abstract

Background: Electrospun Cellulose Acetate (CA) nanofibrous membrane can be used in many areas such as biomedicine, water treatment. However, due to the strong hydrogen-bond interaction, the rare solvent can dissolve the CA and the resulting CA nanofibrous membranes always show bad morphology and poor performance. Aims: To research the effect of CaCl2-Formic acid (CaCl2-FA) solvent system on the morphology and structure of CA nanofibrous membrane. Methods: CA nanofibrous membrane was fabricated with a two-step dissolution method using the first step of CaCl2-FA solvent system followed by the second step of FA solvent solely. Subsequently, the CA nanofibrous membrane morphology and structure property were systematically investigated. Results and Conclusion: The results show that the CaCl2-FA can dissolve the CA efficiently. Additionally, the regenerated CA nanofibers are well-formed under all the CA concentrations with controlling fiber diameter ranging from 224.9 ± 38.6 nm to 367.8 ± 80.4 nm. The results suggest that this two-step dissolution method can be an effective and alternative approach to dissolve CA and regenerate CA nanofibrous membrane.