Premium
The electrospun polyhydroxybutyrate fibers reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals: Morphology and properties
Author(s) -
Kampeerapappun Piyaporn
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.43273
Subject(s) - polyhydroxybutyrate , ultimate tensile strength , materials science , cellulose , nanocomposite , composite material , fiber , morphology (biology) , nanocrystal , nanofiber , chemical engineering , electrospinning , polymer , nanotechnology , genetics , bacteria , engineering , biology
Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) has been used in the biomedical field. However, the poor mechanical properties of PHB have limited its application. Here, electrospun fibrous nanocomposite mats reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were fabricated by using PHB as polymeric matrix. The morphological, thermal, mechanical properties, as well as cytotoxicity were characterized. Increasing the concentration of CNCs caused a decrease in diameter of the electrospun fibers. Moreover, thermal analysis indicated that melting temperature of PHB/CNCs electrospun fibers were improved with the increased CNCs content. The addition of CNCs gradually enhanced the tensile strength till 8 wt % content followed by a gradual decrease at higher CNCs content (12–22 wt %) in tensile strength. The PHB/CNCs electrospun fibers were nontoxic to L‐929 and capable of supporting cell proliferation in all conditions. This study demonstrates that fibrous PHB/CNCs electrospun fibers are cytocompatible and potentially useful mechanical properties for biomedical application. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133 , 43273.