Making fibers from cellulose derivatives by pressurized gyration and electrospinning

Abstract

Cellulose derivatives are obtained from renewable sources, making them an environmentally friendly option in many industrial applications. Manufacturing fine cellulose fibers is confronted with multifaceted challenges due to cellulose's intricate nature, such as its highly organized structure and hydrogen bonding chain. In this study, for the first time, fibers in the nanometer to micrometer scale diameter from cellulose derivatives were successfully produced without the assistance of polymer precursors using the pressurized gyration (PG) technique. The cellulose derivatives investigated in this work were ethyl cellulose (EC) and cellulose acetate (CA), representing the ether and ester cellulose derivatives, respectively. Electrospinning (ES) technique was also used to compare the fibers produced by this technique with those produced by PG. Both PG and nozzle-PG succeeded in producing EC-based fibers with diameters ranging from 488 to 825 nm, with a higher production rate than ES. In contrast, ES succeeded in producing bead-free fibers from EC and CA with a wide range of solvent systems and concentrations. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the fiber morphology, diameter distribution, and alignment. Additionally, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry were used to compare the physicochemical nature of the fibers produced by PG and ES. These tests revealed that the fibers produced from the two spinning methods had identical physicochemical structures and properties. With further research and development efforts, PG has the potential to be a promising technique for producing cellulose derivative-based fibers with a high production rate, which could be employed for applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound dressing.