Electrospinning of Cellulose Acetate Phthalate from Different Solvent Systems

Electrospinning of cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP) has been performed from an acetone−water mixture 85/15 (v/v), 2-methoxyethanol, and a 2-methoxyethanol−acetone−water mixture 50/42.5/7.5 (v/v/v). It has been observed that, at low polymer concentration (12.5%, w/v), a solution in an acetone−water mixture 85/15 (v/v) gave uniform fibers with diameters lower than 500 nm, whereas in 2-methoxyethanol fine particles that look like void hemispheres were obtained. The morphology of the electrospun CAP from this solvent gradually changed by increasing the polymer concentration and beaded fibers and fibers without beads have been produced from solutions of 25% (w/v) and 35% (w/v), respectively. Smooth filaments with no beads and diameters of about 600 nm could be obtained from a solution of CAP in the ternary system 2-methoxyethanol−acetone−water 50/42.5/7.5 (v/v/v) at a polymer concentration of 25% (w/v). The electrospinnability of CAP from 2-methoxyethanol-containing solvents was better than that from the acetone−water mixture 85/15 (v/v).