Research on electrospinning three-branched-chain PLA porous microspheres and adsorption for silver ions

ABSTRACT The objective of the present study was to prepare poly(lactic acid) (PLA) porous microspheres. Special attention was paid to the effects of improving the surface hydrophilicity of the microspheres on the adsorption of silver ions. The linear PLA and the three‐branched‐chain PLA microspheres with pores or without pores were obtained by electrospinning. The morphology, hydrophilicity, and silver ion adsorption of the microspheres were investigated, and the antibacterial properties of microspheres with adsorbed silver ions were studied. The research showed that the three‐branched‐chain PLA porous microspheres had good hydrophilicity and strong adsorption ability of silver ions. Using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, it is found that the microspheres can adsorb more silver ions with an increase in holes. However, the multihydroxyl structure of the three‐branched‐chain PLA has strong hydrophilicity. It has a better phase separation ability to obtain the porous structures easily. In aqueous solution, these microspheres are more likely to adsorb drugs with positive charge, and the size of the microspheres is controlled in the solvent with different dielectric constants. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135 , 46735.