Wettability Improvement of Poly (Butylene Terephthalate) Nanofibrous Mats Prepared via Electrospinning by Blending With Regenerated Silk Fibroin

Abstract

Poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT)/regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) blend electrospun nanofibrous mats were manufactured to combine the excellent mechanical behavior of PBT with the extraordinary hydrophilic property of RSF. A 1:1 mixture of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and dichloromethane (DCM) was adopted as the solvents for PBT and RSF with 20% (w/v) PBT and 16 wt% RSF solutions being mixed in various proportions for electrospinning. The morphology, crystallization, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, surface roughness, contact angle, and wetting time of the electrospun blended materials were studied. When the weight ratio of RSF was larger than 50%, a water drop on the surface of the electrospun mat was completely permeated within 300 s or less. Besides the chemical influence of the amino and carboxy groups in RSF, the physical characteristics of the RSF in the blend electrospun mats, such as random coil structure, lower crystallinity, rougher surface than PBT, etc., were a partial reason for the improvement of wettability. The blend nanofibrous mats may be especially applicable in biomedical fields.