Hot-compacted interwoven webs of biodegradable polymers

- Dual electrospinning was utilized to prepare interwoven webs of poly(lactic acid) and poly(ε-caprolactone) in various proportions.
- As-spun webs were oriented by uniaxial drawing, followed by hot-compaction.
- Substantial orientation of the poly(lactic acid) phase was observed with unexpected influence of the poly(ε-caprolactone).
- The highest high strength and elongation-at-break was observed for blend containing 25 wt-% of poly(ε-caprolactone).

The need exists for processing methods that increase the mechanical performance of biodegradable polymers. Recognizing the gap in performance between articles processed using fiber spinning and injection molding, we sought here to develop processing methodology that bridged these two processes while allowing for compositional diversity via blending. Thus, dual electrospinning was utilized to prepare blended, interwoven webs of poly(lactic acid) and poly(ε-caprolactone) in various proportions. The webs were then uniaxially deformed at elevated temperature, promoting fiber orientation, and finally compacted in a mold at elevated temperature and pressure. We observed admirable levels of orientation and crystallinity for pure components and the blends. Importantly, we observed the highest high strength and elongation-at-break for a blend samples, indicating that PCL incorporation via the process adopted toughens PLA while also increasing strength and stiffness.

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