M Breaking embedded electrospun fibers (BEEF): Fabrication of polymer spheres encapsulated in polymer films

Abstract

In this work, a novel method to fabricate polymer spheres encapsulated in polymer films by breaking embedded electrospun fibers (BEEF) was developed. Polymer fibers were first prepared by electrospinning and embedded in other polymer films using a three-layer deposition method. After thermal annealing, the electrospun fibers transform into individual spheres with regular spacing and sizes. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polystyrene (PS) are both used as the fiber or film materials. The transformation process can be observed in-situ by optical microscope (OM) and is similar to the Plateau-Rayleigh instability. The growth rates of the surface undulation of the fibers are calculated, and higher growth rates are observed at higher annealing temperatures. The sizes of the encapsulated polymer spheres agree well with the theoretical predictions. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016, 54, 2463-2470