Your browser does not support JavaScript!
http://iet.metastore.ingenta.com
1887

access icon free Polylactic acid/polyethylene glycol blend fibres prepared via melt electrospinning: effect of polyethylene glycol content

Polylactic acid (PLA) was blended with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and spun via a melt-electrospinning system. The effect of PEG content on the PLA melt and the thermal behaviour of the blend was studied using dynamic rheometry and differential scanning calorimetry, respectively. By fitting a rheological model, parameters such as zero-shear viscosity and the relaxation time of polymer chains were obtained. A substantial reduction of zero-shear viscosity and relaxation time by increasing the PEG content from 0 to 30 wt% was observed. Crystallisation peaks shifted to lower temperatures and the crystallinity level increased in PLA/PEG blends against PEG concentration. The results revealed enhanced polymer chain mobility because of the plasticising effect of PEG. Continuous microfibres were obtained by electrospinning of PLA/PEG blends. While neat PLA was not spinnable at the spinning temperature of 200°C, PLA/PEG blends were easily spun and the lowest fibre diameters of 3–6 μm were achieved with 30% PEG loading, at an applied voltage of 70 kV.

References

    1. 1)
      • 30. Morrison, F.A.: ‘Understanding rheology’ (Oxford University Press, New York, 2001).
    2. 2)
    3. 3)
    4. 4)
    5. 5)
    6. 6)
    7. 7)
    8. 8)
    9. 9)
    10. 10)
    11. 11)
      • 15. Shimada, N., Tsutsumi, H., Nakane, K., Ogihara, T., Ogata, N.: ‘Poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) and nylon 6/12 nanofibers produced by melt electrospinning system equipped with a line-like laser beam melting device’, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2010, 116, pp. 29983004.
    12. 12)
      • 29. Smith, R.: ‘Biodegradable polymers for industrial applications’ (Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, 2005).
    13. 13)
    14. 14)
    15. 15)
    16. 16)
    17. 17)
    18. 18)
    19. 19)
    20. 20)
      • 10. Cao, L., Dong, M., Zhang, A., Liu, Y., Yang, W., Su, Z., Chen, X.: ‘Morphologies and crystal structures of styrene acrylonitrile/isotactic polypropylene ultrafine fibers fabricated by melt electrospinning’, Polym. Eng. Sci., 2013, DOI10.1002/pen.23515.
    21. 21)
    22. 22)
    23. 23)
      • 7. Rangkupan, R., Reneker, D.H.: ‘Electrospinning process of molten polypropylene in vacuum’, J. Met. Mater. Minerals, 2003, 12, pp. 8187.
    24. 24)
    25. 25)
    26. 26)
    27. 27)
    28. 28)
    29. 29)
    30. 30)
    31. 31)
    32. 32)
http://iet.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1049/mnl.2013.0735
Loading

Related content

content/journals/10.1049/mnl.2013.0735
pub_keyword,iet_inspecKeyword,pub_concept
6
6
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address