Preparation of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-b-ε-caprolactone) by Reactive Extrusion and Production of Electrospun Fibrous Mats

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) has been proposed to be a potential candidate used as biomaterial. However, its poor processability, high brittleness and rigidity have limited applicability. Transesterification reactions with poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL), one of the most promising biomedical materials, emerge an attractive alternative improve mechanical properties. In this work, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-b-e-caprolactone) (PHB-b-PCL) was prepared straightforwardly by transesterification parent homopolymers reactive extrusion in presence stannous octanoate. After purification solvent fractionation, PHB-b-PCL characterized differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) nuclear magnetic resonance carbon (13C NMR) hydrogen (1H and, subsequently, submitted electrospinning. The results indicate that PHB modified, showing lower crystallinity compared original homopolymers. electrospun mats are tough flexible analysis electron microscopy indicates formation uniformly smooth morphology average fiber diameter 900-1200 nm voids range between few microns up tens microns, suitable for cell diffusion applications.