Influence of water on the characteristics of electrospun poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) fibers

The article is focused on the study of segmental dynamics in electrospun PHB fibers and the same fibers subjected to cold rolling based on the analysis of a spin probe characteristics obtained by ESR technique. It was found that the presence of two TEMPO probe populations with different correlation times indicates the heterogeneous structure of intercrystalline areas in the fibrous materials and in cold-rolled fibrous materials. The ESR data shows a model of the amorphous state in semicrystalline polymers. The study uses the ESR technique data for the analysis of water impacts on probe mobility. It is shown that the electrospun fibers, and especially the fibers after cold rolling, lead to denser field formation in the intercrystalline area of PHB, thus favoring fiber stabilization against the exterior water.