Formation of Melt and Solution Spun Polycaprolactone Fibers by Centrifugal Spinning

Nano- and microfibers have a myriad of applications ranging from filtration, composites, energy harvesting, to tissue engineering and drug delivery. Electrospinning, the most common method to produce such fibers, has many limitations including low fiber output and solvent dependency. Centrifugal spinning is a new technique that uses centrifugal forces to form nano- and microfibers both from solution and the melt. In this work, the effect of melt temperature, collector distance, rotation speed, and concentration (for polymer solutions) of polycaprolactone were evaluated with respect to fiber morphology, diameter, alignment, and crystallinity. The fiber diameter generally decreased with increasing rotation speed and reduced concentration. Crystallinity for spun fibers decreased compared to the bulk polymer. Fiber alignment was improved with rotation speed for the melt-spun fibers. The fiber mats were evaluated as tissue scaffolds with neuronal PC12 cells. The cells adhered and extended neurites along the fibers for both melt and solution-spun scaffolds. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41269.