Electrospinning is a simple and efficient method for the production of nanometer to micrometer fibers. While the process of electrospinning has been known for over half a century, current understanding of the process and those parameters that affect the properties of the fibers is very limited. Not much work has been done in the field electrospinning process to study the mechanical properties of nonwoven mats produced and to study parameters affecting their properties.

In the first part of this thesis electrospun nonwoven mats made of poly(lactides) solutions were characterized based on their mechanical behavior in biorelevant conditions. In the second part of this thesis the effect of aging of solution on the mechanical behavior of electrospun nonwoven mats was investigated using poly(c-caprolactone) as the solute.

The yield strain of the mat has increased in biorelevent conditions compared to ordinary conditions though no significant difference in yield strength was observed. The yield strength of the aged solution mat was less than that of fresh solution mat and also its mechanical behavior has changed completely.