Tuning the properties of polycaprolactone-based fibers by using polyethylene oxide / polycaprolactone block copolymers

Abstract Polymers bearing hydrolyzable groups such as polyesters are a source of raw materials to prepare common and specific materials, due to their degradability properties under mild conditions; for instance, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is a broadly used polymer in electrospinning to produce fibrous and degradable materials. In this work, we explored the synthesis, characterization, and conditions to prepare fibrous materials made of different PCL homopolymers and PCL-PEO block copolymers possessing different molecular weights, which have been synthesized by ring-opening polymerization (ROP). The obtained polymers were characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, and GPC. The synthesized polymers were used to prepare fibrous materials by the electrospinning method, which were characterized by SEM, wettability, tensile test, and DSC. We found that low molecular weight polymers cannot produce tangible materials; however, the addition of block copolymers containing the hydrophilic PEO unit produced porous materials where fiber diameter decreased, also tuning hydrophilic as the PEO chain length increased in the block copolymer. Thus, these materials can be projected towards specific applications, for instance, having a possible potential use in tissue engineering. The dual role of block copolymers in the fabrication of PCL fibers according to changes observed in materials by controlling both fiber size and hydrophilia is discussed.