Fabrication of highly porous poly (ε-caprolactone) microfibers via electrospinning

Highly porous Poly (epsilon-caprolactone; PCL) microfibers were successfully fabricated by collecting the fibers into a water bath during electrospinning. The morphology of the fibers collected with and without the water bath was investigated. We observed that altering the pH of the water bath affected both the fiber diameter and the size of pores on the fibers. Acidic or basic condition was found to be more favorable than neutral conditions for the formation of well-porous fibers. The morphology and pore size of the microfibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The average diameter of the fibers and the pore size on the surface of the microfibers were found to be 12-14.5 and 0.3-0.7 mu m, respectively. The crystallinity and thermal properties of the PCL mats were investigated by DSC. This highly porous nature of the microfibers makes PCL less crystalline and increases the surface to volume ratio of the mat. Therefore, the PCL mat obtained by water bath electrospinning may be more effective for tissue scaffolds and drug delivery than the mat obtained without water bath.