Influence of voltage and work distance in the production of cellulose acetate nanofibers for application in Tissue Engineering

ABSTRACT

Cellulose acetate nanofiber (CAN) have great potential for application as scaffolds, for combining properties such as high surface area, high porosity and interconnection between poles. In addition, these materials also have biodegradability, good mechanics and compatibility with living tissues, characteristics for the application of tissues in tissue engineering. The aim of the work was to produce and characterize CAN blankets by the electrospinning technique, in order to investigate the influence of processing parameters, the applied voltage and the working distance, on the morphological characteristics of nanofibers. Therefore, CAN blanks were produced using polymeric solutions at a concentration of 12% m/v in a combination of acetone/DMF solvents. The morphology of the nanofiber blankets was analyzed by images of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the chemical characterization was performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and the thermal properties investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The CAN produced showed a morphological structure in a cylindrical and elongated shape with diameters in the range of 154 to 185 nm, containing beads with dimensions between 0.5 and 4.0 nm, depending on the process parameters used. The CAN, obtained for the working distance of 12 cm and voltages of 12 and 15 kV, showed greater uniformity in the distribution of diameters with an average value of 184 ± 30 nm and an average of 23 ± 1 beads per area.

Keywords
Cellulose Acetate; Electrospinning; Nanofibers