Friction behavior of biodegradable electrospun polyester nanofibrous membranes

Tribological properties of implantable degradable polyester membranes are critical but little research has been dedicated to this. In this work, we prepared electrospun polylactic acid (PLA) membranes and enzyme-degraded PLA (ED-PLA) membranes. SEM images showed an increase in average fiber diameter and porosity after enzymatic degradation of PLA membranes, indicating that PLA was propriety degradation mode. Friction testing results showed that different test parameters resulted in different friction data, but ED-PLA sample seemed to wear faster than PLA sample under same test parameters. Besides, we also discussed the effective way to improve surface lubrication performance of electrospun polyester membranes. This research aims to realize the importance of surface tribological performance of implanted biomaterials and provide technical standards for friction tests.