High strength poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(acrylic acid) cross-linked nanofibrous hybrid composites incorporating nanohybrid POSS

• Published in: Composites science and technology Vol. 110; pp. 111 - 117
• Main Authors: Lee, Eun-Sook, Lei, Danyun, Devarayan, Kesavan, Kim, Byoung-Suhk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 06-04-2015
• Subjects: A. Fibers; A. Structural composites; B. Mechanical properties; Crosslinking; E. Electro-spinning; Heat treatment; Hybrid composites; Nanofibers; Nanostructure; Networks; Polyvinyl alcohols; Tensile strength; A. Structural composites; B. Mechanical properties; A. Fibers; E. Electro-spinning
• ISSN: 0266-3538; 1879-1050
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compscitech.2015.02.001

A novel system for enhancing the mechanical properties of PVA/PAA cross-linked nanofibrous hybrid composites incorporating POSS was developed in this study. An electrospinning and followed by simple heat-treatment strategy was used to prepare nanofibrous PVA/PAA composite hydrogels. The mechanical properties have been dramatically improved by a heat-treatment as well as an incorporated nanohybrid POSS. The PVA/PAA composite nanofibers exhibited 2.3 times higher tensile strength and 4.4 times higher Young’s modulus after heat-treatment, suggesting that the elasticity of these nanofibers was reinforced by the formation of chemically cross-linked networks. Moreover, compared to the heat-treated PVA/PAA nanofibers without POSS, the PVA/PAA/POSS hybrid nanofibers (POSS content ∼0.6wt.%) showed 3.3 times improvement in Young’s modulus and 2.0 times increase in tensile strength after heat-treatment at 160°C for 30min. This suggests that the elasticity of these nanofibers were dramatically reinforced by the incorporated POSS nanoparticles as well as chemically cross-linked networks via an ester bond formation between OH groups of PVA and COOH groups in PAA.