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Electrospun Zein Fibers Using Glutaraldehyde as the Crosslinking Reagent: Effect of Time and Temperature
Author(s) -
Selling Gordon W.,
Woods Kristen Kruger,
Sessa David,
Biswas Atanu
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.200700606
Subject(s) - glutaraldehyde , reagent , dissolution , fiber , solvent , chemical engineering , materials science , synthetic fiber , polymer chemistry , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Glutaraldehyde was used as a crosslinking reagent to produce electrospun zein fibers with improved physical properties and solvent resistance. Using 8% glutaraldehyde, round and ribbon fibers were produced with diameters between 1 and 70 µm. All fibers readily dissolved in acetic acid. Heating the zein/glutaraldehyde fibers at temperatures from 80 to 180 °C for different times provided various degrees of insolubility to the fibers. A model was developed relating the extent of dissolution with the amount of glutaraldehyde used and the temperature/time at which the fiber was exposed. The fibers were found to be birefringent; upon heating, the amount of α ‐helix in the fiber was reduced.