Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biocompatible aliphatic polyester with many possible applications in the medical field. PCL nanofibres, produced by electrospinning, could provide new characteristics that are of interest for these applications. However, a key prerequisite is the ability to obtain bead-free fibres with diameters in the nanoscale range. At present the most commonly used solvent for electrospinning PCL is chloroform, but this only leads to fibres in the microscale range. Therefore various solvent systems were examined in this study.The innovative solvent mixture formic acid/acetic acid was found to allow for nanofibres with a diameter ten times smaller than chloroform. Moreover, steady state conditions could be obtained which thus allow electrospinning in a stable and reproducible way. Further it was noticed that the average fibre diameter decreased with decreasing polymer concentration while the diameter distribution decreased with increasing amount of formic acid. Also the humidity, an often overlooked yet important parameter, was noted to affect both diameter 2 characteristics. Generally it can be concluded that the solvent system formic acid/acetic acid could fill the gap in electrospinning PCL since it is readily able to produce uniform fibres in the nanoscale range.

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A large number of studies have been devoted to the development of chromic textile materials because of their wide applicability as sensor systems. More recently, pH‐sensitive chromic textiles have also been investigated to a considerable extent, as the pH value is an important parameter in various circumstances. This review therefore elaborates on pH‐sensitive textile materials. The outcome of this review process demonstrates that halochromic dyes can be successfully incorporated into textile materials, leading to flexible sensors. Various textile materials and different application methods have both been shown to be effective. Yet the textile material in which the pH‐sensitive agent is present affects its halochromic behaviour and this factor should thus always be considered. Finally, this review establishes the major potential of pH‐sensitive textile materials.