Fabrication Of Environmentally Sensitive Core/Shell Fiber Mats And Properties

The electrospinning technique is a effective method for the preparation of nano or micro-sized fibers. Recently, with the continuous development of electrospinning technology, the fiber mats prepared by this method has a wide range of applications in biomedical, sensors and other fields. In this work, a core/shell fiber was fabricated by a novel combined technique, which contained electrospinning and surface UV photo-polymerization. Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) fibers were prepared by electrospinning technique as the core structure, environmentally sensitive materials(NIPAM or AA) were cross-linked with MBA on the PLA fiber surfaces to serve as the shell. A hydrophobic drug, Combretastatin A4 (CA4), was selected as the model drug and was loaded in the PLA fibers. SEM was performed to observe the morphology of the fibers. TEM was carried out to confirm the core-shell structure of the fibers. Furthermore, XPS and FTIR results demonstrated that the core-shell structure had been fabricated as designed. Water contact angle (WCA) test indicated that the fibers show different wettability when the temperature was below or above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Moreover, in vitro drug release test was conducted to explore the difference of the drug release when the temperature and the pH was under different conditions.