Effect of Solution Surface Tension on Morphology of PLGA and Gelatin Electrospun Fibers

Based on specific applications of electrospinning technology in tissue engineering there is a need for more crucial advances to be made in electrospinning of biocompatible polymer systems. In this study we investigated the effect of surface tension of different solvent systems on the morphology of electrospun nanofibers of gelatin and PLGA. At first the best solvent system was established to optimize nanofiber formation of the polymers. The overall approach of this research was to prepare several solutions of identical concentrations with different solvent systems for electospinning into nanofibes. Finally, the changes in electrospun fiber morphology were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the best solvent system was established in order to pave the way for further research on tissue engineering. It is observed that electrospinning of PLGA with lower surface energy solvent system leads to more homogeneous and smooth fibers. This result is similarly obtained for a system of natural gelatin. For ultimate confirmation of these results, it was observed that by changing the solvent system from high surface energy of DMF to lower surface energy of HFIP, the micro-structure of the prepared mat was changed from microspheres to smooth fibers.