Journal article
Size-dependent soft epitaxial crystallization in the formation of blend nanofiber shish kebabs
Polymer (Guilford), v 202, p122644
12 Aug 2020
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Hierarchical structures called nanofiber shish-kebabs (NFSKs) have been studied as a means to decorate or functionalize electrospun nanofibers. Blending natural and synthetic polymers together into the electrospun fiber NFSK backbones offers the opportunity to design materials with finely tuned mechanical and biological properties. However, it is not known how homopolymer and copolymer kebab formation will be impacted by these blend compositions. NFSKs made from polycaprolactone (PCL) and gelatin blend fibers with PCL homopolymer and PCL-block-poly (acrylic acid) (PCL-b-PAA) block copolymer crystalline kebabs were successfully formed. The blend fibers templated crystal growth on the surface, but with a highly irregular kebab orientation and periodicity that was attributed to the large fiber diameter for the blend. Acetic acid was then incorporated into the fibers and shown to improve the phase mixing between PCL and gelatin, leading to smaller diameter electrospun fibers and more regular and periodic kebab NFSK morphology. The study further confirmed the size-dependent soft-epitaxy mechanism in the formation of crystalline shish kebab structures, with the electrospun nanofiber diameter leading to more oriented PCL chains within the fiber and subsequent orientation of the crystallizing kebab polymer. These NFSKs with multicomponent shish and kebabs have potential to be versatile scaffolds for biomineralization and cellular engineering purposes.
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Details
- Title
- Size-dependent soft epitaxial crystallization in the formation of blend nanofiber shish kebabs
- Creators
- Sarah E. Gleeson - Drexel UniversitySeyong Kim - Drexel UniversityTony Yu - Drexel UniversityMichele Marcolongo - Drexel UniversityChristopher Y. Li - Drexel UniversitySeung-Lae Kim - Decision Sciences (and Management Information Systems)
- Publication Details
- Polymer (Guilford), v 202, p122644
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need; US Department of Education Drexel Dare grant DMR-1507760; 1646737 / National Science Foundation; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Decision Sciences (and Management Information Systems); Materials Science and Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000566926500009
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85086454110
- Other Identifier
- 991019173466104721
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- Web of Science research areas
- Polymer Science