Third Day Poster Session, 17 June 2010 - NanoTR-VI

Poster Session, Thursday, June 17
Theme F686 - N1123
Functional Electrospun Nanofibers from Biocompatible Polymers
Aslı Çelebioğlu and Tamer Uyar*
UNAM-Institute of Materials Science & Nanotechnology, Bilkent University, Ankara, 06800, Turkey
Abstract – In this study, we have electrospun nanofibers/nanowebs from polymers which are known for their
biocompatibility. We produced uniform nanofibers/nanowebs from poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA),
poly(caprolactone) (PCL), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), cellulose acetate (CA) and polyvinylprolidone (PVP).
Electrospinning is the most versatile
method for producing ultrafine fibers which have
diameter at micro/nano size. Many different kinds
of natural and synthetic polymers can be used to
obtain nanofiber/nanoweb structures by using this
technique. Electrospinning method bases on
applying high voltage to solutions/melts of
polymers. The diamater, uniformity and
morphology of fibers are controlled by process
parameters such as; applied voltage, feed rate, tip to
collector distance and the polymer/solvent types
that is used. The unique properties like large
surface area to volume ratio, small pore size with
high porosity and design flexibility make
electrospun nanofibers more attractive for many
applications such as filtration, biomedical, energy,
packaging, functional textiles, etc [1-4].
Biomedical field is one of the most
important application areas for nanofibers
/nanowebs since they are applicable in tissue
engineering, drug release and wound healing, etc.
The size similarity between nano-sized materials
and biological systems and having high porosity
make these nanofibers /nanowebs suitable and
effective for biomedical applications [5, 6].
In this work; poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA),
poly(caprolactone) (PCL), poly(ethylene oxide)
(PEO), cellulose acetate (CA) and polyvinyl
prolidone (PVP) were electrospun for producing
nanofibrous materials which have possibilities to be
used in biomedical area such as medical textiles,
scaffolds for tissue regeneration, wound dressing,
drug delivery systems, etc. In order to obtain
homogenous, bead-free nanofibers/nanowebs, the
optimization of the electrospinning process has
been achieved by varying polymer concentrations
and the process parameters like applied voltage,
feed rate, tip-to-collector distance, etc. The
morphology of produced nanofibers was examined
by using scanning electron microscope (SEM).
The effect of polymer concentration on the
morphology of electrospun nanofibers is shown in
fig. 1. As seen from SEM images, at low polymer
concentrations beaded fiber structures were formed
but at higher polymer concentrations uniform
nanofibers were obtained. Moreover, we observed
that tip-to- collector distance and applied voltage
have also effect on the morphology of the resulting
fibers.
a) b)
c) d)
e) f)
Figure1. SEM images of electrospun (a) 8% (b) 12% CA,
(c) %10 (d) %15 (PVP), (e) %3 (f) %4 PEO nanofibers
* Corresponding author (uyar@unam.bilkent.edu.tr)
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49(10): p. 2387-2425.
2. Teo, W. and S. Ramakrishna, A review on
electrospinning design and nanofibre
assemblies. Nanotechnology, 2006. 17: p. R89-
R106.
3. Li, D. and Y. Xia, Electrospinning of
nanofibers: reinventing the wheel? Advanced
Materials, 2004. 16(14): p. 1151-1170.
4. Huang, Z.-M., et al., A review on polymer
nanofibers by electrospinning and their
applications in nanocomposites. Composites
Science and Technology, 2003. 63(15): p.
2223-2253.
5. Greiner, A. and J. Wendorff, Electrospinning: a
fascinating method for the preparation of
ultrathin fibers. Angewandte Chemie-
International Edition, 2007. 46(30): p. 5670-
5703.
6. Ramakrishna, S., et al., Electrospun nanofibers:
solving global issues. Materials Today, 2006.
9(3): p. 40-50.
6th Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Conference, zmir, 2010 782