Influence of Polycaprolactone/ Polyglycolide Blended Electrospun Fibers on the Morphology and Mechanical Properties of Polycaprolactone

Polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyglycolide (PGA) are two biopolymers that have been used as in situ biomedical devices for various applications. The obstacle of creating a composite that captures the benefit of PCL's long degradation time, while acquiring the strength from PGA is overcoming the lack of surface adhesion between the two biopolymers for stress transfer to occur. This study investigates the use of miscible PCL-PGA blended fibers, created by electrospinning, to increase the interfacial bonding of fibers to the PCL matrix of the polymer-polymer composite. The use of the blended fibers will thereby create the ability of load transfer from the long-term PCL matrix to the stronger PCL-PGA fiber reinforcement. The incorporation of the PCL-PGA fibers was able to increase the tensile yield strength and Young's modulus over that of the bulk PCL, while decreasing the percent elongation at break. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40224.