Electrospinning of Nanofibers Effect of Gelatin by Polycaprolactone and Carboxymethyl Cellulose Degradation Characteristics

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the degradation of gelatin-based polycaprolactone and carboxymethyl cellulose scaffolds produced through the electrospinning technique for nanofiber scaffolds. The experimental design varies the voltage and feed rate for different ratios of gelatin, polycaprolactone, cellulose, and carboxymethyl cellulose, which are 100/0/0, 90/5/5, 80/15/5, 70/25/5, and 60/35/5, respectively. An organic solvent, 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, which is a suitable solvent for gelatin, polycaprolactone, and carboxymethyl cellulose, is used, though the materials are dissolved in water to prepare the raw material for electrospinning. To characterize the scaffolds, their physical properties are analyzed, including fiber morphology and size, using scanning electron microscopy. The results reveal that as the polycaprolactone content increases from 0%, 5%, 15%, 25%, to 35%, with carboxymethyl cellulose maintained at 0% or 5%, the fiber size decreases from 1.5 µm to 5.2 µm. This suggests that electrospinning is effective for fabricating scaffolds from all three materials. Furthermore, the decomposition rates are optimized for GPC90/5/5, GPC80/15/5, and GPC70/25/5, which completely decompose within 36 hours. Additionally, GPC80/15/5 shows a good degradation rate, while GPC100/0/0 and GPC60/35/5 exhibit rapid degradation.