Fabrication of polymeric microfibers containing rice-like oligomeric hydrogel nanoparticles on their surface: A novel strategy in the electrospinning process

In this work, nonwoven fiber mats of poly(ε-caprolacton) (PCL) and PCL blended with methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (MPEG) oligomer were generated by electrospinning. The electrospinning was carried out in two different conditions depending upon the collector medium i.e. with and without water bath. It was found that the addition of MPEG increased the diameter of PCL microfibers when the electrospun mat was collected without water bath. However, the collection of microfibers into the water bath produced rice-like nanoparticles (NPs) of MPEG on the surface of PCL microfibers. The formation of hybrid mat containing hydrophobic PCL microfibers with hydrophilic MPEG hydrogel NPs is not only beneficial in future drug and gene delivery system but also useful in tissue engineering.

Research highlights
► MPEG NPs were uniformly deposited on the surface of electrospun PCL microfibers.
► The crystallinity of PCL microfibers was greatly decreased in presence of MPEG NPs.
► The hydrophilicity of PCL mat was significatently increased in presence of MPEG.