Facile Fabrication of Composite Electrospun Nanofibrous Matrices of Poly(ε-caprolactone)–Silica Based Pickering Emulsion

Functionalized matrices have been sought for their application in sensors, filtration, energy storage, catalysis, and tissue engineering. We report formation of an inorganic–organic composite matrix based on poly­(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) functionalized with hydrophobically modified silica (m-silica) fabricated with reduced organic solvent usage. The matrix was obtained via electrospinning of a water-in-oil emulsion of PCL that was stabilized by judicious choice of m-silica as a Pickering agent resulting into an emulsifier free matrix. Inclusion of m-silica in PCL matrix resulted in enhancing tensile properties and cell proliferation efficiency. The electrospun composite matrix was free from any emulsifier or template polymer; thus any abrupt loss in mechanical properties was prevented when the matrix was subjected to aqueous conditions. The inorganic–organic biodegradable composite matrices thus produced using an emulsifier free emulsion find applications in tissue engineering and may further be evaluated for other areas including selective sorption and separation.