Electrospun poly(ε‐caprolactone)‐based composites using synthesized β‐tricalcium phosphate

Non‐woven hybrid membranes based on poly( ε ‐caprolactone) (PCL) and as‐synthesized β ‐tricalcium phosphate ( β ‐TCP) were obtained by the electrospinning technique. A wide range of composition was investigated, the filler content spanning between 2 and 60 wt%. The synthesis of the β ‐TCP powder was accomplished by titration of calcium hydroxide with phosphoric acid followed by calcination of the resulting precipitate at 1100°C. The as‐dried calcium phosphate was characterized by Inductive Coupled Plasma (AES‐ICP), thermal analysis (TG‐DTA), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT‐IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and high temperature X‐ray diffraction analysis (HT‐XRD). The specific surface area (SSA) was evaluated by N 2 adsorption. Microstructure of PCL/TCP membranes was investigated by SEM, energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS), XRD analysis, and SSA measurements. The average fiber diameter ranged between 1 and 2 µm, the porosity was 80–90%, and the SSA 16 m 2 /g. Mechanical properties were determined by uniaxial tensile test. A remarkable enhancement of the tensile modulus was observed for composites containing up to 4 wt% β ‐TCP. The ultimate tensile strength ranged between 2 and 3 MPa for samples loaded up to 8 wt%. For most of the samples, the elongation at break was in the range 100–150%.