Enhancing the crystallization of biodegradable poly(ε-caprolactone) using a polyvinyl alcohol fiber favoring nucleation

Li, Yang; Yao, Shilong; Shi, Hechang; Zhang, Ye; Han, Changyu; Yu, Yancun

doi:10.1016/j.tca.2021.179065

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…However, the poor interactions between the spread fibers and substrates affected the adhesion and delamination, thereby degrading the physical properties, such as tensile strength and thermal properties [36,37]. Moreover, poor interfacial interactions between the hydrophilic PVA substrate and hydrophobic PCL nanofibers were expected [38]. In this context, numerous studies have been conducted to improve the interfacial interactions between hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers [39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Surface Modification of Hydrophilic Polyvinyl Alcohol via Predrying and Electrospinning of Hydrophobic Polycaprolactone Nanofibers

Ahn,

Park,

Sadeghi

et al. 2024

Foods

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Despite the excellent oxygen barrier and biodegradability of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), its poor physical properties owing to its inherent hydrophilicity limit its application. In this paper, we report a novel surface modification technique for PVA films, involving the control of the predrying conditions (i.e., amount of residual solvent) of the coated PVA film and adjusting the electrospinning process of hydrophobic polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers onto the PVA films. The residual solvent of the coated PVA film was varied by changing the predrying time. A shorter predrying time increased the residual solvent content significantly (p < 0.05) and the flexibility of the coated PVA film. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy depicted the improved physical binding of hydrophobic PCL nanofibers to the hydrophilic PVA surface with increased penetration depth to the PVA film with shorter drying times. The PVA/PCL composite films with different predrying times and electrospun PCL nanofibers exhibited an apparent increase in the contact angle from 8.3° to 95.1°. The tensile strength of the pure PVA film increased significantly (p < 0.05) from 7.5 MPa to 77.4 MPa and its oxygen permeability decreased from 5.5 to 1.9 cc/m2·day. Therefore, our newly developed technique is cost-effective for modifying the surface and physical properties of hydrophilic polymers, broadening their industrial applications.

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