Production of hydrophobic surfaces in biodegradable and biocompatible polymers using polymer solution electrospinning

Abstract

In this work, the electrospinning of polymer solutions was used to produce mats with hydrophobic properties from a series of commercially available biodegradable and biocompatible polymers, such as poly(3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-3-hydroxyvaleric acid), poly(DL-lactide), polycaprolactone, and poly(L-lactide). According to the results, to obtain hydrophobic properties, bead-like morphologies were the most adequate. For obtaining this type of morphology, the polymer concentration of the electrospun solution had to be sufficiently low, although below a limit concentration it was not possible to obtain hydrophobic surfaces. The results also showed that the crystallinity of the materials may influence the final hydrophobic properties. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.