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Mechanical Properties of Aliphatic Polyester‐Based Structurally Engineered Composite Patches
Author(s) -
Sharma Deepika,
Satapathy Bhabani K.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.201800153
Subject(s) - materials science , thermogravimetric analysis , differential scanning calorimetry , composite material , composite number , ultimate tensile strength , polyester , crystallinity , electrospinning , scanning electron microscope , nanofiber , chemical engineering , polymer , physics , engineering , thermodynamics
Poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) (PCL) and polylactide (PLA), biodegradable aliphatic polyesters, exhibit distinct mechanical properties. Integrated structures were fabricated by compaction of PLA/PCL mixed films (≈150µm) over PLA/PCL based entangled electrospun nanofibrous mats (fiber diameter ≈250–850 nm) by adopting (a) solvent adhesion and (b) hot compression techniques. The morphological, thermal, microstructural and quasi‐static mechanical properties of solvent‐cast films and integrated composite patches were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and tensile tests. It was found that solvent assisted consolidation efficiency remained inferior to the hot compression assisted consolidation techniques. The study further revealed an increase in onset‐to‐degradation temperature and in phase‐specific fractional crystallinity depending on the composition of films and mats. Composite patches with 70 wt% of PLA in the nano‐fiber mats flanked by PLA/PCL mixed solvent cast films with 80 wt% of PCL content showed the best ductility ratio irrespective of the consolidation technique. The tensile strength/modulus remained better in the composite patches obtained by hot compression while strain‐at‐break was superior in the patches obtained by solvent‐assisted consolidation technique. The study established the conceptual feasibility of developing structurally engineered composite patches with tunable physico‐mechanical properties. These materials can potentially be further explored as biomaterials for tissue engineering and wound healing applications owing to their inherent structural similarity of nanofibrous morphology of electrospun mats with the nano‐fibrous network of natural extracellular matrix (ECM).