title: The enhanced encapsulation capacity of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-based copolymers for the fabrication of electrospun core/shell fibers.
abstract: This paper reports the use of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-based copolymers to stabilize the core/shell interface for the facile fabrication of electrospun core/shell fibers. For the poly[(propylmethacryl-heptaisobutyl-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane)-co-(methyl methacrylate)] (POSS-MMA)/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) system, the bicontinuity of hybrid core/shell fibers can be tuned by controlling the phase separation of POSS-MMA/PCL in electrospinning solutions and therefore the size of PCL-in-POSS-MMA emulsion droplets. Our results demonstrate the enhanced encapsulation capacity of POSS-MMA copolymers as shell materials. Taking advantage of the rapid advancement of POSS-based copolymer synthesis, this study can potentially be generalized to guide the fabrication of various other POSS-based core/shell nano-/microstructures by using single-nozzle electrospinning or coaxial electrospinning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Science of Advanced Materials Doctoral Program, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA.
authors.forename: Adam J P
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Tingying
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Jianzhao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chananate
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Uthaisar
authors.forename: Bingbing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D008422:Materials Testing; D017646:Organosilicon Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D017646:Organosilicon Compounds; D011108:Polymers
keywords: POSS-based copolymers; core/shell fibers; electrospinning; poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)