The Effect of Electrospinning Parameters on the Electrospun Polybutylene Adipate Co-Terephthalate (PBAT) Biodegradable Scaffold

Abstract

Electrospinning is a cost-effective and versatile technique to fabricate continuous fibers ranging from submicron diameter to nanometer diameter. Polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) has been investigated as a fibrous scaffold because of its low crystallinity, rapid biodegradability, and excellent mechanical properties, particularly for its high toughness and flexibility. However, the potential of the PBAT fibrous scaffold for medical purposes is still limited. PBAT blends with biocompatible polymers have been developed and investigated for tissue engineering applications. Herein, the preliminary research examines the processability of neat PBAT as a fibrous scaffold by varying several electrospinning processing parameters, such as solution concentration, voltage, flow rate, and tip to collector distance. The aim is to obtain continuous, smooth, and bead-free fibers. The electrospun fibers were examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to determine its diameters. The optimum parameters for obtaining a continuous, bead-free PBAT fibrous scaffold were 20% w/v concentration, 19 kV voltage, 2 mL/h flow rate, and a 15 cm distance.