A Systematic Single-Parameter Study for the Melt Electrospinning of Poly(lactic acid)
- 1Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Polímeros (ICTP-CSIC), C/Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Abstract
Melt electrospinning (MES) is a fiber manufacturing technique in which a molten polymer is stretched into ultrafine fibers by an electric field. MES combines the ability to produce very fine fibers with the advantages of solvent-free manufacturing. Its controlled variant, melt electrowriting (MEW), is especially valuable because it allows exceptional architectural precision, making it highly attractive for biomedical applications. This study presents a systematic, single-parameter evaluation of how nozzle-to-collector distance (nozzle height), applied pressure, and collector speed influence the morphological and thermal properties of the resultant poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers. Fiber diameter, uniformity, thermal transitions, crystallinity, and thermal stability are analyzed, the former being tuned over a wide controlled range (≈4–42 μm). Larger nozzle heights and higher collector speeds promote fiber drawing, yielding thinner (down to ~4 µm) and more uniform fibers, while increasing pressure results in progressively thicker fibers due to higher melt flow rates (up to ~42 µm). Thinner fibers exhibit higher glass transition temperatures, suggesting enhanced molecular orientation, whereas all fibers remain amorphous due to the rapid quenching applied during processing. Thermal stability improves at intermediate nozzle heights, correlating with the increased morphological uniformity. These results provide a clear, quantitative understanding of the physical mechanisms governing MES processing of PLA, delivering practical guidelines and processing–structure–property relationships for the design of tailored biodegradable scaffolds.
Related
- Biaxial Electrospinning of Poly(lactic acid)/Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) Blend and Polyvinylpyrrolidone Membranes for Topical Delivery of Betamethasone Valerate
- Numerical and experimental study on the fabrication of core-shell fibers for tissue engineering using a microfluidic-electrospinning coupled method
- One-Pot Synthesis and Electrospinning of Cellulose Derivatives Bearing Pseudo-Peptide Pendants via Ugi Four−Component Reaction for Functional Nanofiber Fabrication
- Toward Greener Solvent Systems for the Electrospinning of Cellulose and Its Derivatives
- Fabrication and Characterization of Chitosan-Integrated Polyvinyl Alcohol–Polycaprolactone/Tea Tree Oil Nanofibrous Scaffolds via Dual-Nozzle Electrospinning for Wound Dressing Applications
BibTeX
@article{barrancogarcia2026systematic,
title = {{A Systematic Single-Parameter Study for the Melt Electrospinning of Poly(lactic acid)}},
author = {Rosa Barranco-García and Coro Echeverria and María L. Cerrada and Alexandra Muñoz-Bonilla and Marta Fernández-García},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/polym18202551},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/20/2551},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A Systematic Single-Parameter Study for the Melt Electrospinning of Poly(lactic acid)
AU - Rosa Barranco-García
AU - Coro Echeverria
AU - María L. Cerrada
AU - Alexandra Muñoz-Bonilla
AU - Marta Fernández-García
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18202551
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/20/2551
AB - Melt electrospinning (MES) is a fiber manufacturing technique in which a molten polymer is stretched into ultrafine fibers by an electric field. MES combines the ability to produce very fine fibers with the advantages of solvent-free manufacturing. Its controlled variant, melt electrowriting (MEW), is especially valuable because it allows exceptional architectural precision, making it highly attractive for biomedical applications. This study presents a systematic, single-parameter evaluation of how nozzle-to-collector distance (nozzle height), applied pressure, and collector speed influence the morphological and thermal properties of the resultant poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers. Fiber diameter, uniformity, thermal transitions, crystallinity, and thermal stability are analyzed, the former being tuned over a wide controlled range (≈4–42 μm). Larger nozzle heights and higher collector speeds promote fiber drawing, yielding thinner (down to ~4 µm) and more uniform fibers, while increasing pressure results in progressively thicker fibers due to higher melt flow rates (up to ~42 µm). Thinner fibers exhibit higher glass transition temperatures, suggesting enhanced molecular orientation, whereas all fibers remain amorphous due to the rapid quenching applied during processing. Thermal stability improves at intermediate nozzle heights, correlating with the increased morphological uniformity. These results provide a clear, quantitative understanding of the physical mechanisms governing MES processing of PLA, delivering practical guidelines and processing–structure–property relationships for the design of tailored biodegradable scaffolds.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -