A systematic analysis on the electrospinnability of biocompatible poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)

Abstract

Fine-tuning electrospun nanofibers is crucial for producing high-quality fibers. Taguchi Design of Experiment (DOE), along with various other computational techniques, has been used to optimize the electrospinning parameters of different polymers. Taguchi DOE has proven effective in optimizing electrospun nanofibers because it reduces the number of trials needed. In this study, the electrospinning parameters of poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) were optimized and quantified using the Taguchi-based Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approach. The average fiber diameters were measured from Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) images using ImageJ software. Within the tested range of parameters and levels, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) study identified polymer concentration and flow rate as the most significant factors that influenced the fiber diameter. Polymer concentration accounting 56.94% of the variation, while Flow Rate (FR) accounts for 20.82%. The optimal parameter levels were predicted to be 10 wt% polymer concentration, 1 ml h?1 flow rate, 18 kV voltage, and a distance from tip to target of 15 cm, which yielded fibers with an average diameter of 231 nm and an accuracy of 88.61%. Overall, the results demonstrate that Taguchi DOE, coupled with RSM, is a reliable and efficient method for identifying the optimal parameter combinations to produce uniform, fine PBAT nanofibers intended for biomedical applications. © 2025 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.