Transient Fiber Mats of Electrospun Poly(Propylene Carbonate) Composites with Remarkable Mechanical Strength

Abstract

Polymers with a triggered decomposition are attractive for an array of applications ranging from patterning to transient packaging materials, as well as for environmental protection. This work showed for the first time UV and thermally triggered transience in fiber mats using poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) composites. The electrospun PPC-composite fiber mats combine excellent decomposition performance (because of the high surface to volume ratio) with high stiffness and thus represent a new class of materials enabling innovative applications, such as transient filter materials and short-time plant protection materials, as well as temporary lightweight materials for aerospace engineering. Thermally and UV-triggerable additives (protected acids or base) have been used in different concentrations to tune the transience performance of the fiber mats over a wide range (75-212 °C). The addition of organo-modified clay (OMMT) enhanced mechanical stability and prevented shrinkage at room temperature. Different annealing methods have been used to improve the mechanical properties even further (tensile strength = 2-12 MPa, Young's modulus = 55-747 MPa) making these fiber mats attractive for a broad field of applications. An Ashby plot of Young's modulus versus degradation temperature for electrospun fiber mats is shown, revealing much lower degradation temperatures with higher moduli for PPC composites compared to other electrospun polymers.

Fabrication of multifunctional cellulose/TiO2/Ag composite nanofibers scaffold with antibacterial and bioactivity properties for future tissue engineering applications

“…Using these maneuvers/techniques to polymeric materials can result in different morphologies/structure of the scaffold, which can have beneficial action consequence on cell proliferation and mechanical properties (Ohlendorf et al, 2017). Using these maneuvers/techniques to polymeric materials can result in different morphologies/structure of the scaffold, which can have beneficial action consequence on cell proliferation and mechanical properties (Ohlendorf et al, 2017).…”

“…Currently, the tissue engineered scaffolds are constructed using the combination of different state of art techniques. Using these maneuvers/techniques to polymeric materials can result in different morphologies/structure of the scaffold, which can have beneficial action consequence on cell proliferation and mechanical properties (Ohlendorf et al, 2017). However, the electrospinning technique has gained a significant surge in creating artificial tissue scaffolds with regard to excellent cell proliferation and desirable mechanical properties (Agarwal, Wendorff, & Greiner, 2008).…”

Recent progress in carbon dioxide (CO2) as feedstock for sustainable materials development: Co-polymers and polymer blends

“…Thus, low temperature vacuum drying, or freeze-drying may be employed to avoid sticking of pellets that otherwise would occur if dried at elevated temperatures. PPC can be processed by all major thermoplastic processing techniques such as injection molding [78], blow molding [99], blown films [100], extrusion film casting [78], compression molding [101], solvent casting for films [98], spin casting [93], and electrospinning [102,103]. It is important to note that solvent casting have possibility to remove the stabilizing agent by dissolution [81].…”

Photo‐Induced Depolymerisation: Recent Advances and Future Challenges

“…In the early example of photo‐induced depolymerisation reported by Ober and co‐workers, UV light instead of visible light was used as the trigger . The poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) modified by a PAG group was able to depolymerize into volatile products with low molecular weight, propylene carbonate, acetone and carbon dioxide under light irradiation.…”