Fabrication and characterization of superparamagnetic poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)/poly(L-lactide)/Fe3O4 electrospun membranes

The fabrication of magnetoactive fibrous nanocomposite membranes based on poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) and pre-formed oleic acid coated magnetite nanoparticles (OA Fe3O4) is presented. The aforementioned materials have been prepared by means of the electrospinning technique following a single-step fabrication process. The PVP/PLLA/OA Fe3O4 nanocomposite membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) that provided information on the fiber diameters as well as on the morphological and dimensional characteristics of the OA Fe3O4 nanoparticles embedded within the fibers. The thermal stability of these materials was evaluated by means of thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements. Finally, vibrational sample magnetometry (VSM) analysis disclosed superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature. The combination of the hydrophilic, biocompatible and photo-crosslinkable PVP with the biodegradable PLLA and the superparamagnetic OA Fe3O4 nanoparticles within these materials allows for the future development of crosslinked fibrous magnetoactive nanocomposites exhibiting high stability in aqueous solutions, with potential use in biomedical and environmental applications.