Electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone)-based composites using synthesized β-tricalcium phosphate

Non-woven hybrid membranes based on poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) and as-synthesized beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) were obtained by the electrospinning technique. A wide range of composition was investigated, the filler content spanning between 2 and 60 wt%. The synthesis of the beta-TCP powder was accomplished by titration of calcium hydroxide with phosphoric acid followed by calcination of the resulting precipitate at 1100 degrees C. The as-dried calcium phosphate was characterized by Inductive Coupled Plasma (AES-ICP), thermal analysis (TG-DTA), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and high temperature X-ray diffraction analysis (HT-XRD). The specific surface area (SSA) was evaluated by N-2 adsorption. Microstructure of PCL/TCP membranes was investigated by SEM, energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS), XRD analysis, and SSA measurements. The average fiber diameter ranged between 1 and 2 mu m, the porosity was 80-90%, and the SSA 16m(2)/g. Mechanical properties were determined by uniaxial tensile test. A remarkable enhancement of the tensile modulus was observed for composites containing up to 4 wt% beta-TCP. The ultimate tensile strength ranged between 2 and 3 MPa for samples loaded up to 8 wt%. For most of the samples, the elongation at break was in the range 100-150%. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.