Functional Copolymer/Organo-MMT Nanoarchitectures: XXVI. Fabrication and Characterization of Electrospun Nanofibers from PCL/ODA-MMT and Copolymer-g-PLA/Ag-MMT Blends

We synthesized poly(E-caprolactone)/octadecyl amine-montmorillonite clay nanocomposite as a matrix polymer by solution intercalative method and new amphiphilic poly(maleic anhydrde-alt-1-octadecene)-g-poly(L-lactic acid)/Ag+-montmorillonite clay nanocomposite as a partner polymer by interlamellar graft copolymerization of lactic acid onto anhydride copolymer in the presence of silver salt of montmorillonite clay as catalyst-nanofiller. Novel polymer nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning of matrix/partner blends with different volume ratios. The nanocomposites and nanofibers were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscope-transmission electron microscope methods. The diameters, morphologies, and thermal behavior of fibers were strongly depended on the partner-polymer nanocomposites loadings. The fabricated biocompatible and biodegradable nanofibers can be utilized for biomedical and filtration applications.