Mechanical and degradation properties of polycaprolactone/ zeolite electrospun membrane

Abstract

Polycaprolactone (PCL) is one of the synthetic polymers used in biomedical applications.  PCL has several advantages including biocompatibility, biodegradability and mechanical flexibility. On the other hand, zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents.  Electrospinning is a promising technique to produce membranes by applying high voltage electricity. In this research, an electrospinning technique was used to fabricate the electrospun membrane based on PCL and zeolite.  In order to produce electrospun membrane, 15% (w/v) of PCL polymer solution was dissolved in acetone and 20% (w/v) zeolite was incorporated into the PCL polymer solution.  The diameter range of fiber was 2-6 µm. Zeolite nanoparticles were distributed homogenously into the fibers.  EDX spectrum confirmed the presence of zeolite throughout the membrane. Mechanical testing revealed that the bi-layered membrane had better mechanical properties than only PCL and PCL/Zeolite membrane. In-vitro degradation experiment was carried out for 21 days and the membranes were characterized after the experiment. The membrane can be potentially used as microfiltration unit to entrap silver contaminants in drinking water.  Apart of that, the membranes are prepared with biodegradable, biocompatible, non-toxic materials which are eco-friendly.