Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
Volume 80, Issue -, Pages 139-148Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2015.06.034
Keywords
Agar; Electrospinning; Microfibers; Nanofibers; Deep eutectic solvents; PVA
Funding
- FEDER funds through the Operational Program for Competitiveness Factors - COMPETE
- National Funds through FCT- Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/QUI/50006/2013 - FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-37285]
- FCT [SFRH/BD/64315/2009]
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [SFRH/BD/64315/2009] Funding Source: FCT
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Very recently our group has produced novel agar-based fibers by an electrospinning technique using water as solvent and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as co-blending polymer. Here, we tested the deep eutectic solvent (DES), (2-hydroxyethyl)trimethylammonium chloride/urea prepared at 1:2 molar ratio, as an alternative solvent medium for agar electrospinning. The electrospun materials were collected with an ethanol bath adapted to a previous electrospinning set-up. One weight percent agar-in-DES showed improved viscoelasticity and hence, spinnability, when compared to 1 wt% agar-in-water and pure agar nanofibers were successfully electrospun if working above the temperature of sol-gel transition (similar to 80 degrees C). By changing the solvent medium we decreased the PVA concentration (5 wt% starting solution) and successfully produced composite fibers with high agar contents (50/50 agar/PVA). Best composite fibers were formed with the 50/50 and 30/70 agar/PVA solutions. These fibers were mechanically resistant, showed tailorable surface roughness and diverse size distributions, with most of the diameters falling in the sub-micron range. Both nano and micro forms of agar fibers (used separately or combined) may have potential for the design of new and highly functional agar-based materials. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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