Electrospun chlorinated polypropylene microfibers modified with epoxidized soybean oil and gallic acid: morphological, thermal, and antioxidant characterization
摘要
Electrospun fiber scaffolds have garnered attention in various fields due to their unique characteristics, including high surface area, porosity, and similarity to natural extracellular matrices. In this study, we developed the electrospun chlorinated polypropylene (CPP) scaffolds modified with varying concentrations of epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) and gallic acid (GA) to improve their morphologic, wettability, thermal properties, and antioxidant activity. The electrospinning process was optimized to achieve fine and uniform fibers with controlled morphology, and the incorporation of ESBO and GA was achieved by blending it with the CPP solution prior to electrospinning. The scaffolds were characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, SEM, WCA, TGA, DSC analyses as well as antioxidant assays. SEM results indicated that the presence of ESBO was found to increase the viscosity and hence increased the average fiber diameter from 2.4 ± 0.4 μm to 3.0 ± 0.4 μm µm. Additionally, the incorporation of ESBO and GA improved the surface wettability and reduced hydrophobicity and glass transition temperature, but reduced the thermal stability. Furthermore, the addition of GA, a potential polyphenolic antioxidant, provided the scaffolds with enhanced bioactivity and potential for mitigating oxidative stress. The findings of the present work suggest that the electrospun CPP-ESBO-GA scaffolds offer a sustainable and versatile platform for biomedical and packaging applications.