A Green Binary Solvent System for the PLA Nanofiber Electrospinning Process: Optimization of Parameters

Electrospinning of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) commonly relies on toxic organic solvents, which limit its sustainability and biomedical applicability. In this work, a green electrospinning process was developed using dimethyl carbonate (DMC), a biodegradable and low-toxicity solvent, combined with acetone as a volatile co-solvent to promote efficient jet solidification. Three commercial PLA grades were evaluated for solubility and spinnability, and PLA 4043D was identified as the most suitable for DMC and acetone systems. The electrospinning parameters, including solvent ratio, flow rate, and applied voltage, were systematically optimized to achieve stable jet formation and uniform fiber morphology. Under optimized conditions, the process produced continuous, bead-free nanofibers with a mean diameter of ~1 µm and uniform nanoscale surface porosity resulting from differential solvent evaporation. The resulting fibers were characterized in terms of morphology, structure, thermal behavior, and mechanical performance, confirming increased amorphous content, high porosity (about 78%), and tensile strength of ~3 MPa for the selected electrospinning condition. This study demonstrates that DMC-based solvent systems enable a sustainable and potentially biocompatible route, considering the lower toxicity of the solvents employed, offering a green alternative to conventional toxic processes for the fabrication of medical scaffolds.