Preparation of poly(ε-caprolactone)/poly(trimethylene carbonate) blend nanofibers by electrospinning

Poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL)/poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) blend nanofibers have been prepared for the first time using an electrospinning process. The mixed dichloromethane (DCM) and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) (75/25, v/v) was found to be the most suitable solvent for electrospinning. Various blends of PCL/PTMC solutions were investigated for the formation of nano-scale fibers and it was found that the average diameter of the fibers was reduced and the morphology became finer when PTMC content was increased. FT-IR and DSC analysis indicated that the molecular interactions between PCL and PTMC were weak and they were phase-separated in the fibers. Due to the biocompatible properties of PCL and PTMC, the spun nanofibers developed here could have applications in the biomedical field. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.